I Chose Family
by a.little.jem
Summary: *spoilers to season 5 finale* In order to give Dean the normal life he deserves Sam keeps the fact that he is out of hell a secret. That is until a person with unknown intentions gets acquainted with Dean and his new family. Will Sam remain in the shadows
1. Prologue

He stood in the street, silently watching his brother eating a family dinner. Under any other circumstances Sam would have laughed at himself for that thought, Winchesters were not known for their traditional family dinners, just the fact that Dean was sitting at a kitchen table could be considered odd.

Dean looked ok, better than he had when Sam had last seen him. Sitting on the grass, the Impala the only thing keeping him upright, his face almost unrecognizable it was so swollen and bruised. A shutter ran up his spin, he had done that. It was his hands that had slowly tried to beat his brother to death. It had been Lucifer in control but he could still feel the way Dean's face felt under his fists.

He pushed that thought out of his mind, turning back to the present scene. Yeah, Dean looked healthy but Sam could not honestly say that his brother was fine. Even from outside, he could see that Dean was barely holding it together. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked as if someone had drained his will to live.

_That will change in time. Dean was broken after Dad died but he was able to move on. He will do the same now._ Sam tried to convince himself. He had pushed Dean to leave hunting and despite the fact that he now found himself back, he still felt that this new life would be a good change for his brother.

So, for Dean's benefit Sam was going to leave, let him go on with a life full of soccer games and family dinners. Well, he would leave if he could make himself walk away from the window. Sam just needed to feel close to his brother, after all it had been Dean that had allowed Sam to break through and push the devil back. Despite all their arguments and fights, when Sam had needed his brother, he had been there even when it risked his own life.

Sam took one last look at his brother; fighting back the tears that had just sprang to his eyes. "Goodbye Dean, I'm going to miss you man," he said quietly. Sam turned away from the window and quickly made his way down the road, before he lost his nerve and started pounding on the door calling for his older brother.

A lone silent figure crept out of the shadows, cautiously watches the receding silhouette of Sam Winchester. Once certain that he will not turn back, the figure turned their attention to the man at the kitchen table, all the while the threads of a plan being weaved together silently.


	2. Chapter 1

The shrieking of the alarm clock didn't pull Sam from sleep he had been awake for at least an hour. It did tell him that it was time to prepare for the day.

He closed the lid to his laptop and drank the final mouthfuls of the now cold coffee from the bottom of his mug. He could pick up another on the way out. He scooped the keys off the table as he made his way out the door.

The drive was uneventful exactly the same as it had been everyday for the last six months. Sam considered how pathetic he might seem, repeating the same pointless actions day after day. Well, not really pointless actions just unnecessary, he had not really been needed so far, but he worried that there would be a day when he would be. He was the one who needed this, but that didn't stop him from asking himself everyday since he had arrived in Cicero, if he had simply lost his mind. Still he couldn't get himself to leave, here he had a purpose and he would not fail him again.

He pulled down the now familiar street, passing right by the house, a sigh of relief escaping. "Good, they are still there," he thought happily.

Sam stopped in front of a house that was far enough down the road that he could see the black car easily, but not be noticed. He had to look into the rear view mirror to see the house and car. He felt a familiar pang for home as the sun glinted off the black metal. Quietly under his breath he said. "Hey baby," then suddenly barked a hollow laugh. _I'm becoming as bad as he is. I mean it's a normal car not Herbie. _For a moment he envisioned his brother behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Beetle.

_Yeah you are definitely starting to lose it Sammy. _Dean's voice echoed in Sam's mind, sounding extremely offended at the thought. _Dude,_ _I would not be caught dead in such a wimpy ride when I can drive a classic like the Impala._

Sam sighed, lately his inner voice has started to sound like Dean, he must really be missing the guy to be filling in his annoying comments. "It's Sam," he answered no one, not even the voices inside his head could get that right.

Just then a small figure burst out of the front door of the house he was watching, ran up to the car and proceeded to bounce on his heels. A tall man in a familiar leather jacket followed him shortly. _Man, Dean still looks upset, _Sam could scream. It had been almost a year!

_Would you have stopped missing me so fast Sam if I hadn't come back? _Dean's voiceover supplied quietly. Pointedly ignoring the voice, Sam looked into the rear view mirror, to anyone else Dean would look content, but Sam knew his brother, the heaviness of his steps and the guarded expression spoke volumes.

As Dean passed the side of the Impala, he ran his fingers over the hood. Sam closed his eyes and turn away from the image of his brother in the mirror. The expression on Dean's face was full of loss and pain as he looked at his beloved car. His very nature was telling him to go over to Dean and make him spill whatever he was holding inside, but Sam had to stay he would not fail this time.

Lisa walked up to Dean, laid a hand on his arm and smiled up at him. Dean's posture changed, he straightened up and Sam smiled as he saw the confidence return to his demeanour. _Thank God for Lisa, she's probably the only thing keeping him going. _

The roar of the Impala made Sam refocus, it was time for action, he couldn't lose them. He drove at a safe distance for ten minutes until the Impala pulled into the parking lot of the local park. Driving around the block a couple of times before he parked a little up the road with his car facing the park. Sam grabbed his pair of sunglasses, picked up his coffee and settled in a long haul.

He had been following Dean for the last six months and truth be told Dean was definitely spilling. Dad would have been upset if he knew that Dean hadn't noticed the tail, either that or proud of Sam for going undetected. A familiar pang of sadness hit Sam, if only their father was alive, the years had not completely removed the loss from his heart.

Dean and Ben were throwing a football around, Lisa was reading a book on a near by bench. Dean made a gesture of pride as Ben made a difficult catch, even from his lookout point Sam could see the kid beam. _Ben sure has taken a liking to Dean. _It made sense for Dean to step into the role of father with Lisa's child so easily; it had been Dean who had taken care of Sam so long ago. _And you repay me with this?_ His brother's voice gruff with hurt. Sam wished the voice would leave him alone, but at the same time needed to hear his brother even if he wasn't really there. If Sam could just make one decision without worrying about his intentions or the outcome, he would be content. Not like that would ever happen, he was definitely going to be punishing himself for starting the apocalypse for the rest of his life.

Sam was jolted out of his thoughts at a sharp rap on the car's window right by his ear. Standing outside his car was a tall girl with big sunglasses covering most of her face. Sam's heart picked up speed, for a moment he had thought that he had been caught. In an attempt to look casual, he took in a deep breath and turned his attention to the girl.

Despite the fact that he couldn't see her eyes, he could tell that she was looking at him impatiently. Was she waiting for him to do something? He fumbled with the window, trying to roll it down.

"Can I help you with something?" Sam asked cautiously, his body tense ready for any threat.

"Do you happen to have the time?" Sam studied the girl for a moment; she was watching him waiting for the answer, looking slightly more impatient. Sam almost laughed, it was such a normal question, he was so used to danger that he was starting to step in my every person even, young blonds.

"Look," the girl said, "I know you must be busy watching the little children or whatever fun thing you're doing here, but I just need the time, it's kind of important." She shifted her weight and suddenly Sam felt as if he was being threatened, though her hands didn't move from their position crossed over her plaid shirt.

"No, you got it all wrong, I wasn't… I'm not watching the kids or anything like that. I wouldn't do that, it's just sick and…" Sam stammered trying his best not to make himself sound guilty. _Yeah I definitely sound balanced right now_. "I'm waiting for someone, that's why I'm here, they just happen to be late."

Sam relaxed as the girl change her posture and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. "Well I'm glad to hear it," she answered warmth coming into her voice. "I would really hate to have to call the cops on you, it would take some time out of my day and might make me late for that important thing I needed to do." She looked at him expectantly.

"It's 11:26am," Sam supplied, mildly surprised that so much time had already passed. "I hope your not late."

"No, I'm right on time. Thanks a lot for your help." With that she turned and crossed the street to the side opposite the park.

Sam watched her go then turned his attention back to Dean, feeling a sense of calm to see Dean and Ben in the same place as before. _They're still safe._

That had been the most important thing for Sam since he had been freed from Hell; Dean needed to be kept safe. Lisa and Ben's safety become a factor also, because they were important to Dean.

Sam had tried for six months to stay away from his brother to hunt on his own, but he had spent too many hours, woken up too many nights with unforgiving terror that Dean would be hurt without Sam there to protect him. So Sam had started his vigil, came back to Cicero, Indiana and watched Dean's movements throughout the day. He followed him to work, to pick Ben up from school, the grocery store and on weekends he would follow the small family on outings like this one. Dean was getting his apple pie life and nothing was going to take that away if Sam could help it.

Sam watched as Dean threw the football, it sailed over Ben's head, through his hands and bounced behind him. Ben turned and dashed after the escaped football, without noticing that he was about to run into traffic. Everything slowed down for Sam as Ben ran into the road after the ball. He could see the fear appear on Dean's face, see him call to Ben and begin to move towards the boy, even though Dean was too far away to ever reach him in time. He saw Lisa look up at Dean's cry and watched as her expressions changed to horror. Sam watched as Ben stepped into the path of a speeding car and knew that there was no chance of the car stopping in time. In an instant that felt as if it lasted hours, Sam reached for the door handle, he had to do something, even though he already knew it was too late.

A figure darted in front of the car, barrelling into Ben, pushing him backwards back onto the pavement. The car nearly clipped the person as they fell partly on top of Ben and partly positioned beneath him to break his fall some. Time returned to normal as the two figures fell hard but safe on the sidewalk.

Sam stood frozen, half away in and out the car. What had just happened? Someone had pushed Ben out of the way before the car hit him. Sam started to laugh with relief, settling himself back into the car; _Ben was going to be ok, _he thought as he ran his fingers agitatedly through his hair.

Dean had just made it up to the group tangled on the sidewalk; he crunched down and pulled Ben in his arms, disentangling him from his saviour. The figure sat up as the weight of the child was taken from her arms.

Sam froze as confusion wash over him like a bucket of ice waters. He stared at the familiar blond girl in sunglasses and plaid who had just dived in front of a car to save Ben, after having just spoken to Sam. The only coherent thought that entered Sam's mind was.

"What the hell?"


	3. Chapter 2

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone for reading my story and especially to those who reviewed it. It's my first fanfiction and I hope you enjoy it.

I obviously own nothing from supernatural.

* * *

It was as if all the sound disappeared leaving white noise in its wake. Dean did not hear the squealing of tires as the car desperately tried to break or the sound of his own voice yelling "Ben stop!" All he knew was that despite his muscles pushing him towards Ben with all their might, he would not make it.

He looked above Ben's head and for an instant he caught the gaze of a pair of determined eyes. The next moment Ben was thrown backwards out of the path of the car, another figure crashing down to the ground with him.

He finally came to a stop at the squirming tangled mass of bodies on the sidewalk, as Ben and his rescuer tried to right themselves. He grabbed Ben's hand, pulled him up right out of the mess into his arms. He gave the boy a quite hug before placing him on his feet, all the while checking to see if he was hurt in way.

"Ben, are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine," Ben answered a little shakily. Dean let himself relax and he was surprised as his body gasped for air. _When had he stopped breathing_?

"If you pull something like that again Ben, I swear I'm going to lose it."

"How's the kid?" asked a voice from Dean's left. He looked over and saw a young woman probably in her early twenties sitting on the sidewalk. She was out of breath and her face was a little red. Dean realized with a start that this girl had pushed Ben out of the way of traffic.

"I think he's going to be okay. Thank you for jumping in there, did you double as a superhero in a past life" Dean said looking straight at the woman hoping that he was communicating the gratitude he felt.

"Yeah, just call me wonder woman. It was no problem really. Hey kid, you have to be more careful you were about to make a pretty convincing impression of road kill," she answered laughing slightly. She shifted as if to stand, but groaned and sank back down grasping her side.

"Woo, are you okay?" Dean asked, it would be just his luck if the girl died after saving Ben, he thought bitterly.

"Yeah, it's just my ribs complaining to being smashing into the pavement, they'll shut up soon enough." She turned towards Dean smiling and Dean felt as if everything dropped away because looking at her smile all he could think of was Sam. Pulling away from the girl instinctively he tried to refocus, to shake the pounding pain that began at the back of his eyes at the thought of his younger brother.

"Ben!" Lisa's voice broke through the haze that had so suddenly surrounded Dean; he blinked and looked over to see Lisa run up. She pulled Ben towards her, crushing him into her arms as if he could disappear.

"Mom. Mom! I'm fine. Stop with the hugging, you're embarrassing me," Ben complained in true form of any self-respecting 12 year old.

Dean smirked, _well, he definitely bounced back fast._

"The kid kind of bounces back fast from possible traumatic experiences, huh?" Dean turned back to the girl, mildly nervous. She was smiling again her eyebrows raised in amusement, but this time is was different, it did not hit Dean in the same way, in fact he could not see how she had reminded him of Sam in the first place.

"Ben tends to be pretty tough, but I'm sure he'll start acting like a regular crossing guard from now on. We should probably buy him a vest, what do you think?" Dean knew that Ben was wound tight and that he was probably about to burst any moment. So Dean was going to get the kid annoyed at him, divert the young boy's emotions towards himself._ It had worked on Sam, why not Ben? _Dean thought, prepared for the pang that always came with the thought of Sam, his lost brother. Dean closed the door on his brother's memory again and turned his attention back to Ben, who was looking as if he might take a swing at Dean if he had any other bright ideas.

Chuckling softly the girl stood up, "I'm glad you are feeling fine, Superman. Next time though can you not try to see if you are faster then a speeding car? My sides would really appreciate it."

Ben looked shyly up at the woman looking as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar; she gave him a small smile. They watched each other for a moment, and then Ben nodded and turned his attention to Lisa who was reassuring the driver of the car that everyone seemed to be ok.

Dean looked over at the girl with interest, she had just won Ben's trust so easily, a quick joke, a smile and Ben was completely at ease. He stuck out his hand. "My name is Dean and that's Lisa, thanks again for saving Ben."

"My name is Samantha, it's nice to meet you," she shook his hand. Pain flashed through Dean quickly, though he schooled his expression to hide any sign of it. She just had to be named Samantha, he thought crossly. "Well I should be off, I don't think I'm needed here anymore." With that she began to walk away.

"Wait, please wait," Lisa called running forward. "Please let us do something for you, you saved my son's life I feel like I need to repay you in some way."

Samantha looked as if she wanted to protest but Lisa cut her off before she could open her month. "Why don't you come over for dinner tonight? We were just going to barbecue, I'm sure we have enough for one more. Please it would make me feel so much better."

Samantha looked at Dean, as if she was judging his reaction. Her scrutiny was a bit unnerving but he could not see any reason why he should be opposed to a dinner guest. He could always put holy water in her glass just to make sure. He told Lisa that he was done with hunting, but some old habits were hard to abandon. So he nodded his head reassuringly.

"I guess I can't turn down barbecue. Thanks, when and where?" she asked. As Lisa stepped forward to give her directions to their home, Dean turned away rubbing a hand over his eyes. He was only realizing how much this scare had taken out of him. After months away from hunting he had learned to let his guard down sometimes, but the fear of losing another loved one was always fresh.

He could not push away the fact that he had seen every member of his family die before his eyes; he did not think he could handle it if he lost another one. It had taken Lisa and Ben months to begin to fill in the gaping whole in his heart where Sam had been ripped. Taking in a deep breath Dean allowed his mask of confidence to fall back into place, he might have hurt everyday since Sam jumped into the pit but he was not going to let others see it. No one could read his looks anymore now that Sammy was gone.

"You okay?" Dean looked over his shoulder at Samantha. Her eyes were questioning and he could see concern radiating out of them.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I don't know." she shrugged. As she spoke, it was as if a shield came down over her eyes blocking out the rest of the world. "Hey, I'll see you guys tonight at dinner. Thanks again for the invite." With that Samantha walked away and for a reason unknown to even himself Dean felt uneasiness; he could not shake the idea that she was hiding something.

_Yeah, I' m definitely going to have to use some holy water tonight. _

* * *

Sam was losing his mind. He had been standing in the bushes outside of Lisa's house for almost two hours and he did not know if he could stand it much longer. Usually he would go back to his apartment after he knew that Dean and his new family was safely at home, but tonight was different, tonight she was here and Sam would be damned if he left before she did.

Sam had been all but ready to leave his look out when he saw the girl walking down the street. He had no real reason to distrust her, he had only spoken to her for a couple of minutes, but he could not shake the feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was not right.

So here he was sitting in the bushes watching them eat dinner. So far nothing remotely out of the ordinary had occurs, he was starting to wonder if he was overreacting about this girl. _Sammy I gotta tell you that you are starting to look pretty damn pathetic dude. _Sam scowled as Dean's voice piped up in his mind.

"I'm trying to keep you safe jerk," Sam said to the empty air around him.

_I'd be safer if you were inside with me, bitch. _

Sam felt anger spark inside him then all annoyance was quickly sucked away. He was becoming irrational he knew that Dean was not beside him and that all the comments he heard were really coming from himself. He probably heard Dean's voice because he missed having his brother around so much.

The front door opened and the girl from the park stepped into the street. She turned and waved to the small family in the doorway before making her way down the street. As she passed his car she looked over at it, then turned in a circle, her eyes sweeping the street as if she was looking for something. After a moment she continued down the street silently.

Sam allowed himself to relax, please that he could finally get out of this stupid bush. He was going to have to make a mental note to find better hiding spots; he picked the leaves and twigs out of his hair, ones that did not involve foliage.

Sam quickly made his way to his car; he was going to stop at the local diner on the way to his apartment to pick up something to eat. He pulled into the parking lot, and made his way towards the back. He was worried that one day Dean would see him, but seeing that Dean had just finished dinner he was unlikely to be at the diner at this time. Still Sam parked around back and made his way through the side alley to the front door.

The usual waitress saw him enter and came over to him right away; he was beginning to become a regular. Sam gave her his order then leaned on the counter as he waited for his food to arrive. He looked around the dinner aimlessly and noticed that there were three people in the farthest booth watching him. Even when Sam caught their gaze they did not break their stare.

Sam felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice water over his head, he needed to get out of here now. The moment the waitress brought his order, he threw some cash on the counter and forced himself not to run from the diner. The best plan was to pretend that he was not on to them, whoever they were.

He cursed under his breath, he had been so careful up until now and he thought that he could continue to pull off his vigil for much longer. He was not sure who they were, but if they were demon's he was going to be in trouble. He only had one knife on him and Sam's demon killing powers had been stripped away when he had been pulled from hell. He did not know why he was freed or by whom, but he knew that they had taken away the tainted blood in his system. He had thanked whoever had saved him everyday he lived without his thirst, well that is until right now.

He made his way into the side alley and was just about to round the corner towards his car when he was grabbed from behind and smashed into the brick wall of the building.

Sam's teeth rattled in his head as it connected with the wall. Sure enough when his vision cleared he saw that the three people from the diner, two guys and a girl surrounded him.

"Well, if it isn't our lucky day, look it's Sam Winchester the miracle kid who escaped from hell." The man who was pushing Sam into the wall spoke in a voice that sent chills of fear up his spine.

Masking any fear that he was feeling, Sam spoke with surprising confidence. "Let me guess, you guys are demon scum, right?"

The girl sprang forward, sticking her face close to Sam's. She blinked to reveal entirely black eyes, anger rolled off of her in waves that were almost physical in nature. "Who are you calling scum? You are nothing but a meat suit for our master."

"Oh didn't you get the memo? I got rid of Lucifer, sent him back to his cage like a bad dog." Sam smirked; he was turning into Dean more and more each day. Yup, it's always a good idea to chirp your opponent when you are at a disadvantage.

The demon pinning Sam did not seem inclined to take the bait; he kept his firm grip on Sam as he answered. "Oh we know what you did and that's why we are going to make you pay, slowly."

With that all three demon's backed away from Sam, forming a semi circle keeping him between them and the brick wall at his back. Sam tried to get his bearings. Great, they were giving him a sporting chance, which made him believe that they were some pretty high rollers down stairs.

As Sam reached into his back pocket for his knife, he knew that this might be the fight that he could not win. He had a moment were all he wanted was his brother to be there, the longing for the one person who had always been there for him was crunching. Sam took a deep breath; the thought that Dean was safe at this minute had a calming effect on Sam. He said a quick pray to anyone listening.

_Please, I need help. _


	4. Chapter 3

Sam shifted his position, readying his body for the attack; if he was about to be taken out he would do so swinging. The male demon who was acting like the leader sprang forward first and just as Sam rolled his shoulder to dodge the punch, a gunshot rang through the night air.

Everyone froze, the so far silent demon looked down at his chest. "Sonofabitch!" he whined before he fell forward in a pile on the pavement, a pool of blood spreading around his fallen figure.

_Did that gun just killed a demon? _Sam mind whirled trying to think of what gun other than the Colt could do that. _Dean still has the Colt, I'm sure or it._

Sam had to tear his eyes from the now dead body of the demon to look around in confusion. At the mouth of the alley stood a figure hefting a gun, which she now pointed at the other demons.

"You little bitch!" cried the female demon as she moved towards the girl who stepped under the streetlight. "I'm going to rip your head off for that."

"You demons, always so melodramatic," the girl answered the light of the lamp falling over her blond hair and familiar face. Sam choked for a moment; this girl was showing up way too much to be a coincidence.

The iron fist of the demon brought Sam back to the problem at hand. He suddenly realized that he had just gone down to one opponent, the female being distracted by the gun-totting stranger, and the other demon slowly bleeding on the pavement.

The loud mouth demon snarled like a rabid dog and lunged at him. He turned his body away from the blow; twisting Sam brought the knife up to slam it into its chest. The demon dodged away and Sam's years of training kicked in. The pair moved in a flurry of jabs and punches that only stopped when Sam saw an opening. Shooting his left arm out, Sam plunged the knife into the demon's chest with his right. The demon sputtered and its eyes flashed black before it fell to the ground.

Sam pulled his knife out and looked up to see the stranger collide with a dumpster with a sickening sound. Moving forward quickly Sam placed himself between the demon and the fallen girl. The demon paused long enough to decide that her odds have suddenly changed before black smoke began to deluge from the meat suit's mouth.

After checking to see if the possessed girl had a pulse and finding that she was long gone, Sam turned towards the girl, who is standing rather unsteadily.

"Damn it, I think I may have broken them this time," she gasped holding her left side.

"This time?"

"Yeah it's the same side I landed on when I pushed that kid out of the way this morning." The girl looked at Sam straight not attempting to hide the fact that she remembered him from that morning.

Sam felt a little thrown off by her steady gaze, there was something quite unnerving about it, which he could not place. "Who are you and why did you help me?"

"My name is Samantha Browning and it looked like you needed help."

He could tell that she was not about to give him any more information. He looked down at her fallen gun. "What is this thing? I've only ever heard of one gun that can kill demons and I know where that one is."

"I don't know what it is, my dad gave it to me and told me that it would kill any evil thing that I wanted."

"Every evil thing but one," Sam answered feeling guilt and fear wash over him at the very thought of the devil. Sometimes he just wished that he could forget, maybe without the memories he could feel whole enough to see his brother again.

Looking at Sam, she nodded lightly in understand and Sam wondered briefly how much she actually knew. She smiled at Sam, then winced as she jostles her ribs. Cursing under her breath as pain sparked up her side almost making the world go white for an instant.

Sam found himself moving forward to help her before he could question his actions. Perhaps the fact that they had just saved each other made him feel responsible for Samantha in some way. "Let me help you." He reached for her, but stopped as she pulled away from him.

Schooling her expression to hide the pain, Samantha looked at Sam confidently. "I'm fine, I'll just be on my way thanks."

Samantha turned away and started walking towards the mouth of the alley. Unable to quench the sensation that she is hiding some thing, Sam looked down at the gun still on the pavement at his feet. Sam picked it up and turned it over in his hands. It was amazing the gun was an exact replica of the Colt except it looked older then the original. Had the Colt been the only evil killing gun or had this one been the first?

_You don't know who she is or what she wants Sammy. She seems to know who you are. Are you really just going to let her leave? _

Sam nodded his head to the invisible voice. She had also infiltrated Dean's life as well, there was a lot of things that Sam was willing to ignore but she was not going to be able to mess with his older brother. With determination firmly guiding his actions Sam levelled the replica Colt on her reseeding back.

At the sound of Sam cocking the gun, Samantha stopped her retreat. "You're coming with me," Sam said in a voice that did not reveal any of the nerves he was feeling.

She slowly turned towards Sam, took in the gun pointed at her chest and Sam's stony stare. The subsequent look Samantha gave Sam could only be read as totally unimpressed. "Why would you want me to do that, because I don't go that way Sam?" The humour in her voice had disappeared being replaced by a coldness that crept under Sam's skin.

"You have gotten too close, showed up too many time for it to be a coincidence. So until I'm sure that you are not a threat you are coming with me." Sam answered in the same steely tone.

Moments passed before either one moved, each daring the other to break the stand still, to be the first to spring. Samantha relaxed her stance, and fixed Sam with an exasperated look. "Fine, we'll do this your way. Let's go," with that she moved towards the back of the building were Sam's car was hidden, not looking to see if he was following her.

Sam dropped his arm holding the gun and watched as she left. She moved with natural grace and strength despite her injury, he felt certain that she is someone who had been well trained. Feeling slightly overwhelm by the sudden change in his routine, Sam followed her to his car. After months of doing the same thing everyday with no change, he was thrown off; he had not been prepared for the demons. How can he expect himself to protect Dean if he cannot even fend off a demon attack?

The drive to his apartments was silent and uncomfortable. Sam held the gun in one hand and drove with the other, while Samantha slouched into the car seat and seemed unaware of the weapon. Sam glanced over at her, there was something so familiar about her presence, she seemed so at ease, yet the tension in the car was smouldering.

Sam could not help but wonder what the hell he had gotten himself into.

Entering his apartment Sam moved towards the kitchen cabinet, before Samantha was even able to step through the door he was placing a flask into her hand. Without a word, she uncapped the flask and downed a huge swig of the blessed water. She passed the flask back to Sam and put out her arm. _She certainly knows the drill. _Sam stared at her arm wondering if he must cut the girl. Raising her eyebrows at his hesitation, her eyes questioning, Samantha sighed and reached for the knife herself. Drawing it quickly over her skin Samantha brought a thin line of blood to the surface. Smiling she handed it back to Sam. "There now that we have taken care of the meet and greet, lets get down to business."

"Give me a sec, I'm going to grab the first aid kit." With that he left for the bathroom. His reflection in the mirror exposed the toll that this day had had on him, Sam looked tired and lines of worry sat deeper today. The hours of sitting in a bush frantic for his brother's safety have not treated him with kindness. Sam threw some water onto his face; the coolness on his skin refreshed him and allowed his mind to refocus.

Samantha was sitting on the couch when he entered the room; she had taken off her jacket, which was now slung over the back of a chair.

"Lift your shirt so I can see your side." She listened and pulling her shirt up just enough for the light to land on her side, Sam drew back at the dark bruises twisting along her middle. Careful not to upset the dark marks on her skin, Sam felt for a break. Years of taking care of his father and Dean made Sam's assessment quick and painless.

"I think you're fine, it just seems to be badly bruised. It might be cracked though, so try no to hit it again." Sam said as he pulled away from the girl.

Samantha fixed her shirt. "Yeah next time I'll tell the demon to throw me on my other side," she said with a smirk that made Sam laugh. It sounded strange to him, when had been the last time that Sam had heard himself laugh?

"Look Samantha, I need to know who you are and what are you doing here?" Sam asked, turning his pleading eyes on her. Puppy dog eyes were always the best method to get the information you wanted.

Samantha looked up at Sam and for an instant her eyes were pain filled. _She has green eyes like Dean_ Sam thought absent-mindedly. Just as quick as her eyes had opened up to Sam, a barrier was slammed down and Sam was met with the amused expression that he was beginning to believe was her standard choice.

"I'm a hunter. I was following the three stooges from the alley for a while now and my lead brought me here to Cicero."

Sam nodded in understanding, that's usually how hunters work, finding a lead and following it until they get the chance to kill the evil thing. That was how Dean and him had lived for years, before Dean had been given a chance at happiness.

"How do you know who I am?" He asked slightly nervous, recalling her using his name in the alley.

She took in Sam guarded expression quietly for a few moments before continuing. "Every hunter knows about the Winchesters and since I met Dean this morning, you have to be Sam."

"Every hunter knows…" Sam trailed off shuddering at the idea of others knowing about his shame. Knowing about him saying yes to Lucifer.

"Hunters gossip like they're the golden girls, its kind of pathetic if you ask me. From what I've heard you and your brother are quite a team." Sam relaxed at this, perhaps she did not know the whole story then.

"Do you hunt alone?"

Samantha's gaze was steady, but the barrier did not allow Sam to glimpse any of the feelings held inside. "Those demons today are the ones who killed my family." Her voice did not reveal any emotion but Sam remembered the look of pure pain and he moved forward as if to comfort her in some way.

She pulled back from him, putting a hand up to stop him. "Look I appreciate it, but I'm dealing and no amount of shoulder patting is going to help right now."

Sam watched Samantha as she turned away from him, her shoulder set in defiance as if she was expecting him to call her on her lie. She said she was a hunter and he was willing to believe that because of the way she had handled herself in the alley. She had known what to do and had reacted to the spawn of hell without surprise or fear. Whether or not Sam could trust her was an entirely different matter. Part of him said that she was to be trusted while his logic told him that her action seemed planned.

Either way she had gotten close to Dean's family, closer then Sam could get without breaking his cover, so he only had one decision.

"I think we should work together, I mean it's probably easier to track down a demon with two people on it." Sam offered knowing full well that he would not be able to take no as an answer.

She studied him for a moment, searched his face, he got the distinct impression that she did not trust him either.

"That's probably a good idea, you did already kill one of the demons for me and I might need help taking out Monika."

"Monika?" Sam asked with a laugh. That definitely was not a name that could strike fear into people's heart.

"Yeah, she likes to use the name of her vessels. I guess the real Monika is the poor girl lying dead in the alley. Look, I should really be on my way. We should start work tomorrow pretty early because I have a commitment in the evening."

"What kind of commitment is that?"

"I'm babysitting Ben so that Dean and Lisa can go on a date." Samantha answered with a shrug as if it was no big deal.

Sam felt the air rush out of him. "You are going over there again?" he all but yelled at her.

"Yeah they asked me to babysit and I could use some extra cash, so that I can find a place to stay." She studied him for a moment, Sam was really getting tired of the way she looked at him, he could not shake the feeling that he wasn't fooling her, that she could see inside his head

"If you don't have a place, you can stay here. You can sleep on the couch it's a pull out. It will be easier for us to work together that way." _I can also keep an eye on you that way, _Sam thought as he plastered a smile on his face.

"That sounds great. Thanks a lot, but I'm still going over to watch Ben tomorrow." Samantha answered with a smile that seemed as fake as his had been. There it was again, that voice that challenged him to tell her no, testing to see how far she could push him.

"Why would you need too?" Panic was beginning to feel like a rock in his stomach, what if she told Dean that he was alive? She could ruin months of work with one spill up. At the same time he could not tell her the truth, the shame and pain were still too fresh to share with anyone. _Well you would have shared them with Dean if you could talk to him. _

"Ben's a cool kid and I'd like to get to know him. Calm down Sparky, I won't go telling anyone that you like to hide in the bushes, ok?" With that she turned and walked towards the door. "I'm going to go grab my stuff and some food. I'll pick you up some since you dropped yours in the alley. I'll be back in 30 minutes or so."

The door felt like it slammed behind her, sucking all the air out of the room with her. The quiet of the apartment seemed to close in on Sam, restraining him like a cage. He stood taking deep breaths to calm himself down, to not barrel after her and force the truth out with any means necessary.

Though he had called all the shots, he felt as if she had control. She seemed to know how to get what she wanted from him, he might as well have been playing into her hand. With a sigh he pulled out some of his books. He needed to research to see what he could find on the Browning family, the replica Colt or the demon who called herself Monika, before Samantha returned.

Dean's voice sounded clear in his mind and for once Sam could not argue with him at all.

_You are in way over your head, Sammy. _


	5. Chapter 4

Thank you to everyone who has been reading so far and I appreciate all those who took time to review.

I own nothing from supernatural obviously.

Please tell me how I'm doing, it's my first fiction so I would love feedback.

* * *

Dean leaned back against the familiar upholstery of the impala. Lisa was in the passenger seat chatting about the movie they had just seen and Dean wanted to say that he was listening but that wasn't the complete truth. His mind kept drifting back to the impala and all the hours he had spent driving with Sam in the seat beside him. Sam had left a whole that had only been partly healed by Lisa and Ben. He was happy with the life he was living; yet he knew without a doubt that Dean would mourn Sam for the rest of his life.

Lisa's voice cut through the fog of growing despair. "Ben seems to have taken a liking to Samantha, don't you think?"

"Yeah he seems to like having her around. He probably thinks she's a babe" Dean answered with a laugh. Samantha had babysat Ben four times over the two weeks since she had come hurtling into their lives and Ben thought the world of the girl. She talked to him about classic rock and watched action movies with him, so she was all right in Ben's book.

In truth she had become sort of an adopted family member in a very short time. She just seemed to fit in with them, as if she had always been around.

Dean shook his head at the thought, on one hand it worried him how easily he had accepted Samantha into his life. Sure he had run the usual tests and she was definitely human, but people were just as dangerous sometimes as monsters. Dean had decided to trust his gut something inside told him that Samantha was not a threat. He could always shoot her if she ever tried to hurt his new family.

As Dean pulled the Impala into their driveway he noticed that Lisa had been talking about the movie they had just seen for the last couple of minutes. Lisa was looking at him questioningly. Feeling embarrassment at the fact that he obviously had not been listening, Dean stumbled to form an apology. "I'm sorry Lisa, I know you were saying some…"

Lisa cut him off by raising her hand and a small smile. "It's ok Dean, you always get quiet in the Impala. I understand that the memories are strong when you're driving." She placed a warm hand on his arm, then turned towards the house.

The empty space where her hand had rested felt like ice and Dean felt another chunk of his heart fall away. Lisa was so understanding with him, she saw the intensity with which he missed his brother, but she was wrong, this time he had not been thinking of Sam. That in itself was enough to ram a spear of pain into him. He couldn't save Sam and now he couldn't even respect Sam enough to mourn him properly.

He was a failure.

The sound of the front door closing brought Dean slamming back to the moment. Samantha stepped off the porch under the lamppost, the light cast shadows on her face. She looked up only when she got the side of the Impala.

"Hey Dean, I'll see you later."

Dean watched her walk away, and as the shadows enveloped her he felt a wave of fear crash over him. Even though he knew it was only a trick of the light, it seemed as if the darkness had swallowed her. He was stepping out of the car before he could clearly think about what he was about to do.

"Hey Samantha! Do you want a ride home, it's pretty late? There's probably some mugger in the bushes" She turned back around and looked at him for a moment, her eyebrow quirked slighlty in confusion. He could feel his heart racing, what was going on with him?

She stepped back into the light of the street and Dean felt his body relax. "A ride would be great, thanks. I live in an apartment on Robinson St." With that she walked over to the passenger side and got in.

Dean started the car and felt the rest of the tension leave him as the purr of the engine ran though him. As he pulled onto the road he glanced at Samantha. She looked completely at ease, her back pressed into the leather, her one knee pulled up to rest against the dashboard. He smirked; she fit into the Impala fine, it was only Sam who had trouble getting comfortable, especially after he had grown to be so huge. Images of Sam attempting to stretch his legs out danced across his mind.

Movement caught Dean's attention out of the corner of his eye; Samantha reached forward and placed her hand of the dashboard. The gesture was made with a tenderness that was surprising, her fingers barely brushing the vinyl. Dean looked at Samantha questioning, just in time to see a softness creep into her eyes.

"Hey are you okay?" He asked, suddenly feeling nervous, though why exactly he was not sure. Maybe it was because he could see that he was heading for a chick flick moment.

Samantha snapped up and looked around the interior of the car, she glanced at Dean and refocused ahead of her. It was as if she had been so buried in her thoughts that she had forgotten her surroundings.

"Yeah I'm fine… I was just…" she paused, took in a shaking breath that rattled through her then continued with more confidence. "I was thinking of my father. He appreciated classic cars, I think he would have loved the Impala."

"Sounds like a man of high tastes. I don't think you've mentioned him before."

"He died. It happened a couple of years ago, but it's still hard. He was the only person I had left, I guess I'm not really used to being alone." Samantha spoke without hesitation, but her voice sounded ruff with built up emotion. Dean watched her from the corner of his eye, partly to keep his eyes on the road, but mostly because this was the most honest he had ever heard her be. She had allowed her barrier to slip and a little piece of her was shining through.

She laughed suddenly and ran a nervous hand through her hair. "I never really speak about him, I guess I feel comfortable here."

Dean listened to the silence for a moment; here was a person who understood what he felt. He would have never known how she felt; she always had a smirk or a laugh to cover any sign of weakness. If she was comfortable enough in the impala to share her pain then Dean could at least help her feel less alone.

Taking a deep breath he spoke. " I lost my little brother almost a year ago. He was the last person I had left. My brother Sam died saving me, he saved a lot of people, but sometimes I just wish that he never said yes."

"Said yes? Said yes to who?"

"I meant sacrificed himself for other, allowed himself to die that way." Dean looked at Samantha, why would she think Sam had said yes to someone and not to something?

"Would you really consider the greater good less important then Sam?" her voice was quiet, but seemed to echo through the interior.

"When you say it like that I guess not. I just want to get him back." Flashes of Sam falling backwards into the pit bombarded him leaving the loss raw and cold. "No matter what it takes," he finished with renewed determination.

Pulling up to the apartment building that Samantha indicated, Dean put the car into park. Minutes skipped by before either moved or spoke.

"I understand Dean, I would do anything necessary to save my dad." Dean met her steady gaze and saw an intensity that he knew Samantha had not allowed many people to see. He knew that feeling, recognised it as the look Bobby had seen when Sam had died in Cold Oaks in Dean's own eyes. Pulling slightly away, Dean felt a shiver of dread crawl up his spine.

Samantha stepped out of the vehicle and made her way to the apartment door. She moved with her head held high and a determined tension in her shoulders. Somehow Dean knew that Samantha would not hesitate to save those she loved, not even for her own sake.


	6. Chapter 5

I just wanted to thank everyone for reading and for those who reviewed. It's great to know that some people are enjoying my story!

* * *

They crept up to the building, keeping to the shadows. Neither spoke there was no real need for it, they had found from the start that they worked like a well-oiled machine; each covered the other on instinct. The familiarity should have been months in the making, but theirs had come in the two weeks of their partnership.

Sam pressed his back against the brick wall slick with some unknown substance, positioning himself beside the door, glancing towards Samantha. She stood opposite him, gun held ready and jaw set in her usual just-try-and-stop-me look. Their eyes locked, and silently both counted, three, two, one, Samantha shoved the door crouching low, while Sam crashed into the warehouse.

The room was empty, at the far side was an overturned table it's former contents littering the floor. The place looked unliveable, grim covered every surface and the smell of mould invaded Sam's senses. Samantha moved towards the table, eyes sweeping back and forth. Sam gripped his gun tighter, not entirely trusting the quiet of the building, just because he couldn't hear them didn't mean that they were there. He moved towards the wall, putting his back to it, and also moved towards the table. Samantha had knelt near the table and was looking at the fallen items.

The sound of something falling echoed in the disserted room, snapping his head around Sam listened. Nothing followed; the room remained quiet still Sam felt that they should get out of here as fast as possible. The demon may have left but it might not be for good, they could come back later to make sure. Turning back to warn Samantha, he saw her place something in her pocket.

"Did you find anything? Cause we should get out of here." Sam said in a loud whisper.

Samantha turned towards Sam, getting to her feet slowly. "No I didn't find anything. I think we missed her again."

Sam watched her, giving her the chance to bring up the item in her pocket. She tilted her head in question. "Well come on, you're the one who wants to get out of here." With that she stalked out of the building, keeping her gun at ready the whole time.

Sam followed her, covering their trail on the way. _Man she's definitely hiding something. _Dean's voice piped up into the silence of the crap hole of a warehouse.

"Yeah I know Dean, and I'm going to find out what it is."

* * *

Sam looked over at Samantha out of the corner of his eye for what had to be the hundredth time. She had curved her body towards the door of the car so that he could only see her profile. She was working her jaw silently, her hand moving towards her pocket, but always stopping before she reached it. She was practically emitting rays of uneasiness, Sam felt sure that Samantha could snap in a moment.

She had been acting like this all night, since she had returned from babysitting Ben. When Sam had heard the rumble of the Impala, he had panicked. Had Dean found out about him? Was he going to throw his happy life away to travel the country with him again? He had practically run to the window, peeking out only to see Samantha climb out and for the Impala to pull into the night. Sam had not been able to explain the sudden drop of his heart or the disappointment that hit him, without challenging the reasons he had repeated to himself over the last year. Dean was better off without him end of story.

Turning back to Samantha he noticed that her mood had not changed from the dark cloud that had come home earlier. She had crashed into the apartment slamming the door and moved straight to her gun. All she had to say to him in a voice that was too controlled was, "Let's go kill that bitch."

That was why they had broke into the warehouse; they had believed that the demon Monika was holed up there. Sam sighed they had been too late to catch her again, but this time they may have found a new lead. Well, they would if Samantha was planning on sharing with the class.

It was no use asking about her hidden find right now, she would just bit his head off. No it was better to try to calm her down, than find the item when she was sleeping or out.

Taking a deep breath Sam looked out at the open road in front of him and asked the first question that came to his mind. "How was Dean doing today?"

She looked at him in disbelief. Her eyes flashed and Sam felt the need to back away from her in that moment. "Why do you ask, Sam? It's not as if you really care what happens to him." Samantha's voice was cold and sharp enough to dig into his mind.

"What are you talking about? Of course I care about Dean, I mean he's my.."

Samantha cut him off quickly. "If you say he's your brother, I swear I'm going to punch you in the face. What kind of brother would treat someone like that?"

"Treat someone like what? Look Samantha I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"You don't Sam? You may think that you're saving Dean but all you're doing is killing him a little bit everyday."

"This is for the best, I know that you may not understand but I'm trying to save him."

"Why wouldn't I understand Sam? I watched my family die. I watched my dad die, slowly in front of me. I know how it feels to lose the most important person in your life. Do you?

Images of Dean lying cold in a puddle of his own blood, body slashed mercilessly by hellhound flashed before his eyes. He remembered the pain of the four months that followed, he could feel it still the way someone could still feel their amputated leg. Shaking his head to clear it, Sam glanced away from the yellow highway line to look at Samantha.

She looked back at him with an intensity that startled him. Sam fought the urge to tell her that none of this was her business, somehow he felt like she deserved an explanation. "Yeah I do, but Dean is not alone, he has Lisa and Ben. Dean is ok and he's going to stay that way I know it, I have it all planned out."

"Well your plan is going to fail and you are going to lose him!" Samantha yelled, her voice rising with her anger. Sam jumped in surprise to the outburst and almost ran that car off the road. Slamming down on the breaks, he whirled towards her and looked straight into her eyes.

"How to you know that?" Sam asked, the question coming out as a threat.

"Because I've seen it!" Samantha yelled back.

Both froze, Sam tried to make sense of her answer. Panic crept into Samantha's eyes so quickly that Sam would have missed it if he had not been looking right at her.

"What do you mean?" His voice barely rising above a whisper.

Her stance changed, she slumped back into a comfortable position and the smirk returned. "I mean that anyone could see that this plan would fail. All you need is some common sense to know that. So calm down and let's go home."

Not knowing whether he should pursue the situation or not, Sam pulled back onto the road.

The rest of the drive was in a heavy silence, even as they unpacked the weapons, neither spoke. Placing the duffle game on the floor, Sam turned towards Samantha. He had to find a way to smooth things over. Despite what he tried to tell himself, he enjoyed having someone to talk to and it was good to work with someone again.

She looked back it him, reading him in a way that he could not understand. She looked down at her feet before she spoke. "Look Sam I get that you are trying to help Dean, but I've spent time with him and spoken to him. He's not dealing with your death very well." She paused a moment studying the carpet by his feet intently. Slowly she raised her eyes to his. "If you don't change your path, you are going to lose him."

It was as if her mask had slide down a little, the pain found in her face, took Sam's breath away. She was broken, he realized with a start. The fight, the loss of her family, something had broken this girl and she was using a laugh and a grin to hold herself together. With pity and understanding Sam spoke.

"I'm sorry about your father's death. I wish I could have done something to stop it."

Something cracked inside of Samantha, her mask broke and she choked out a sob. Shaking her head, she backed out of the room, before running down the hall as if the devil was following her.

Sam sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. What was going on? He had known from the beginning that Samantha was hiding something and as the days had gone by he had come to believe that it was about him. Yet he had allowed her to stay, felt that if she was close he could keep an eye on her. Over the last two week, since she had saved Ben, Sam had begun to trust her. Now since Dean had driven her home, she had become more cryptic then ever. The item in her pocket, the confusing comments, and the level of her anger at Sam for hiding from Dean, it was all leading Sam to questions that he was afraid to answer.

Why did he want to trust her anyway? He thought with a groan. _You want to trust her because she reminds you of me. _Answered the Dean from inside his head.

Sam stood and made his way out the door. Imaginary Dean was right, having Samantha around was like being near Dean, from her smirk to the way her eyes had opened when he had mentioned her father. So Sam felt responsible for her, he felt as if he should protect her as if she was really his family.

He stepped outside the apartment building, looking around worriedly. Where could she have gone? He moved towards the next door apartment, stopping to glance down the alley separating the two building.

There sitting on the ground was Samantha. The light of the street lamp at the mouth of the alley fell across her head and quaking shoulders. Her face was pressed into her pulled up knees.

Sam moved towards her, the need to comfort her springing up. Hearing his approach Samantha started and looked up. Her eyes were bright with tears and in that moment she looked very young and so lost.

Instead of speaking Sam sat against the opposite wall. Stretching his legs out in front of him so that they lay beside her feet, Sam rested his head back against the wall.

Samantha watched him silently for a few minutes, tears all the while tracing down her face. Sam gazed back openly; he wanted her to know that he would continue to help her, even if that help was simply by having his presence there when she was lost in sorrow. Finally she put her head back against the wall, tilting her head up to look at the stars.

They remained like that for hours, not feeling the need to say anything more. They understand that they had come to an in pass, neither was willing to change their path, but the need to not be alone was stronger. They would hunt Monika and protect Dean together until one or both of the jobs were done.

* * *

Sam was sitting in the apartment cleaning his guns. It was three days since Samantha had broken down and things had returned to normal. Samantha had woken up the next day, as if nothing had happened and Sam had been willing to continue the act.

They had found no more information on Monika and Sam had been unable to find the hidden object in Samantha's things. He was starting to wonder if it was anything of importance or if he had made a mistake, it had been pretty dark in the warehouse.

Just then his cell rang on the table. He checked the number before he answered it was Samantha's. He was filled with sudden alert, because Samantha was watching Ben and had no reason to be calling him, unless there was trouble.

"Hello," he said in a rush.

Samantha's voice was shaking and she was panting as if she had just run. "Sam I need you to get here right now! It's the demon, Monika. She's trying to get Ben and I don't know how long I can hold her off for. We need you now!"


	7. Chapter 6

I just wanted to thank everyone who is reading my story, it means alot to me. I hope you are enjoying it. I'm so sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out, it has been a crazy couple of weeks.

Thank you for your patience and please review this work because I would love to hear what you think.

* * *

Sam must have broken the land speed record as he tore across town to get to Samantha and Ben. All the while he whispered, "I have to save him for Dean," over and over as if the words themselves would make him reach the house in time. He swung around the final corner and slammed on the breaks across the street. He was out of the car moving towards the trunk before the keys were even out of the ignition.

As he grabbed the demon killing knife, salt and a flask of holy water, his searching eyes gazed at the house, looking for a sign of danger. From his vantage point all was quiet, but he had heard the panic and fear in Samantha's voice, he was definitely going in.

He made his way up the drive way and to the front door. The door was standing ajar and on further inspection Sam saw that someone had broken the lock with shear force. He pushed the door the rest of the way open and entered the home.

He stopped dead in his tracks in shock. Fear suddenly gripped his heart.

The living room was a mess, furniture was overturned and some of it lay in splinters on the floor. A bookcase had been knocked down; leaving the pages of broken books covering the room in a blanket of text. As he moved around the space he looked for signs of injury, giving a sigh of relief when he could not see the crimson liquid on any of the fallen objects.

A faint cry of pain echoed through the house. Sam whipped around towards the staircase from where he felt the sound had come. They must still be in the house. He moved quickly and silently up the stairs in a way that only years of experience could have perfected.

The sound of voices reached him as he stepped onto the landing. He could not make out what they were saying but he knew that one of the voices belonged to Samantha. He felt that he could pick out her taunting tone anywhere now.

Moving closer to the room, which held the source of the voices, he listened and peered inside.

"Is that all you've got bitch, because that little display was definitely not an incentive to give you Ben?" Samantha's voice was dripping with contempt but Sam could still hear the pain and fear behind her strong words. Looking in Sam saw that Samantha was pinned against the opposite wall, her feet hanging freely as an unseen force pressed her into the cool plaster.

A figure moved towards her unmoving form. It was a woman in her 50s, she had on a business power suit and they way she moved towards Samantha was menacing. Sam was confused, this woman was not the same demon girl who had attacked him in the alley, she had been in her late 20s. Why would Samantha have called her **the** demon then?

Sam searched for Ben, but could not see the boy anywhere in the room. There was a line of salt in front of what must have been the closet door. _Smart move Samantha, that way the demon can't get to him easily. _

The demonic woman stepped right up to Samantha and ran her hand along her face. Samantha cringed away from the touch. "Why Sammy would I be worried about the boy right now, when you and I can have all this fun, just like old times?" With that she clenched her fist and Samantha cried out in a voice so full of pain that Sam could feel it coursing through him. He stopped himself from rushing in he needed to wait until the ideal moment.

The demon pulled back from Samantha and studied her form as pants shook her core. "Your family was always so much fun. Especially your daddy, I enjoyed listening to him screaming to for you and your uncle as I squeezed the life force out of him. When I found out you had disappeared, well I used this to find you and follow you here." She lifted a golden cup, which was glowing with a menacing red light. She moved forward again and sneered in Samantha's face. "You want to know what the best part is? That little stunt of yours means that I get to torture you and your family all over again and you thought you were going to save them." The laugh that followed was so cold that Sam felt his heart ache for Samantha's family this demon was truly cruel.

"You won't get them, not if I can help it." Samantha answered raising her chin a small margin, her eyes blazing with hate for the demon and love for her family that was so familiar to Sam, for he had seen it in the eyes of his brother a hundred times before.

Sam found himself moving forward into the room, the knife raised before his mind caught up with his body. He would not let the demon hurt this girl with Dean's eyes he thought blindly. He would not lose the only part of Dean he had at this moment. His arm shot out to stab the demon, but she was faster and moved away from him.

"Ah Sam Winchester, you are coming to me now earlier then planned, that's ok I'm flexible." The older demon grin was crazed and Sam did not understand what she meant, but he advanced on her anyway. Sam swiped across to catch her throat but she moved backwards at a surprising speed. Moving with her he tried to reach her again, this time he caught her across her right arm. The woman yelped in shock, and the golden cup clattered to the floor. Samantha crashed to the floor in a heap. Sam glanced at his fallen friend to see that she was already on her feet moving towards the demon. Locking eyes with Sam for an instant Samantha's signal was clear, they would attack together.

The demon backed away this time in apprehension, her eyes sliding between the two Sam's. "Screw this fight, we all know that I win in the end," she yelled out. With a flick of her wrist, the glass of the window blew out and the demon dived out of the window into the night.

Samantha sprang to the window, searching for any sign of the demon. Her eyes grew wide, "shit, you need to get out of here Sam!" she said.

"Why what's going on? Is she out there?" Sam asked frantic, adrenaline pumping through his veins from the fight.

"No she's gone again. You need to get out because the impala is coming up the street and Dean will be here any minute." Samantha moved towards the fallen cup, shrugging off her jacket at the same time. She wrapped the glowing cup in the fabric tightly, then handed the bundle to Sam. "Here take this with you, that way I'll have less to explain. Now get out of here, I need to check on Ben"

Sam bolted out of the room down the stairs. His heart jumped into his throat, Dean was moments from finding him. Part of him wanted to run to his brother more then anything in the world and another part was asking who would protect his brother then? Sam reached the back door, just as he heard the front door swing open. He sprang into the night air, once outside running towards the back fence as if death was on his heels. He jumped the fence with ease that practice and his height provided, landing on the other side Sam ran. He went around the whole block before he came back around to his car. He kept an eye on the house the whole time; luckily the neighbours bushes helped cover his escape.

He drove back to his apartment, wondering what Samantha would possibly tell Dean? He would know that she was a hunter just based on how she protected Ben by using salt. Dean would probably kick her out of the house and Sam would lose his person on the inside. He sighed, it could not be helped, he had made his decision to hide from Dean and it was one he had to live with.

Once he was safely inside the apartment, Sam unwrapped the cup letting the eerie red light creep around the room. He put her coat aside as he inspected the vessel. It was mostly plain, except for writing near the top of the lip in writing that looked suspiciously like enochian. Why would a demon be in possession of an angelic artefact?

Sam sat down in a huff as he tried to calm his nerves. The seat of the chair was lumpy because of Samantha's coat sitting upon it. Sam leaned to the side and pulled the coat out from under him into his lap. He stared at it for moments, Samantha had never been without this coat, she brought it wherever she went. _Perhaps the object from the warehouse was in the coat?_ Sam thought curiously.

Reaching into the front pockets then into the inside pocket Sam pulled out a small packet of papers. He pulled open the first scrap. It was a clipping from the newspaper with the headline reading. _12 year old boy hit by a car at Cicero Park_. The article went on to explain the death of Ben Braeden, how he had run in front of a car to catch a ball and was found dead on site. The picture was of Dean holding a sobbing Lisa in his arms, his eyes blank of any emotion.

Sam stared at it for minutes. This never happened. He had seen Samantha's miraculous save of Ben. Where would she have gotten this newspaper clipping? How could she know that this was going to happen, unless…

Sam stopped that thought right where it was, it was too unbelievably crazy. Then again Sam was sure his mother had thought the same thing when Dean had told her who they were.

Pulling the next couple of pages out, he saw that most were newspaper clippings any hunter would have of strange bear attacks or other suspicious events. At the bottom was a folded photograph with the words written in pen _Dad and his Sammy girl_. With hands that shook, Sam carefully opened the well-worn image, then stared at the photograph tears springing to his eyes.

There was Samantha smiling at the camera, her eyes dancing with laughter. Beside her, with his arm swung over her shoulder and identical laughing green eyes was Dean.


	8. Chapter 7

**I just wanted to thank everyone for reading and for your patience. I hope you are enjoying where this story is going! Please review because I would love to know what you think. **

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Dean was having a great night. He and Lisa had enjoyed a nice dinner and had opted to go out for a couple of drinks instead of seeing a movie. Sitting on a rickety bar stole with a cold beer in his hand Dean was feeling like his old self once again. Plus this time he would be taking the pretty girl sitting beside him home for more then a one night tumble.

Lisa smiled at him but Dean could see by the dark rims around her eyes that she was tired and would need some rest. His diagnosis was proven true when she put up little resistance to his offer to go home for the night.

Dean tapped his hands to the music. Lisa was a blessing, it was funny how her presence in the Impala could take away some of the ache that Sam's absence left. He was happy, but somewhere in the dark spaces of his heart Dean knew that he needed Sam in his life to find any lastly joy.

As the car pulled onto their street, old instincts flared up before Dean saw any signs of danger. Dean felt a cold fear run through his veins, the window to Ben's room was broken, the jagged pieces of glass shining against the light flickering inside the room.

He moved purely from memory, reaching for his hidden gun in the glove compartment, whispering to Lisa to stay in the car before swinging the car door open and moving towards the house.

All the downstairs lights were off, but the remnants of a fight were still visible. Dean moved towards the stairs, he had to find Ben and Samantha before he worried about some broken furniture. Once on the landing he could hear a soft female voice speaking in low and reassuring tones. Moving silently towards the sound Dean was able to make out Samantha's comforting words to Ben.

"It's okay Ben, she's gone. You did exactly what you were supposed to. You should be proud to have been so brave."

Dean moved into the doorway of Ben's room, the boy immediately noticed his presence and ran towards him. Ben buried his head in Dean chest. The fact that he was not ashamed to show his fear, told Dean all to well how frightened he was. Dean wrapped his arms around Ben, making shushing noises to the shaking child all the while sending silent questions to Samantha.

Samantha slowly got to her feet, the gun in her hand becoming visible. Dean's eyes narrowed and he began to assess the rest of the room. It looked similar to before except for the blown out window and a line of salt in front of the closet.

Dean felt his blood pump hot as the purpose of the line was processed. "Ben? Did you put the salt line down?" Dean asked in a voice that was surprisingly steady.

Ben looked up at Dean in confusion, "no, Samantha did so that I would be safe inside the closet."

In an instant Ben was pushed behind Dean as he stepped towards the calm girl holding a gun. Dean snapped his head around at the sound of a creaking floorboard. "Lisa take Ben downstairs and do not come up for anything!" He barked the order out at them, he was aware that she had not listened to his request to stay in the car but it was not important with the new threat at hand. Lisa stared at him in shock for a moment then grabbed her son and made a quick exit.

Returning his full attention on the female figure standing in the same position looking unimpressed about the whole situation, Dean levelled his gun on Samantha.

"Who are you?" he growled out.

"Your babysitter, Samantha. How much did you drink?" She asked tilting her head to the side in an innocent manner.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. How to you know about salt lines?"

Samantha watched him for a couple of moment, her face did not betray her thoughts, but Dean saw the resolve settle in. "My dad taught me about them."

"Why did he teach you? Was he a hunter?"

"Yes." Samantha answered without wavering her gaze from Dean.

"Are you a hunter?"

This time Samantha paused, a fleeting look on sadness flashed across her face. "Yes," her voice came out in a small sad whisper.

Dean felt his anger boil to an almost unbearable level. She had been a hunter all along and she had never told him. A sense of betrayal settled in and Dean restrained his urge to shot her in that very moment. He would have to hold it together to find out more about the attack before he could shoot her. "What happened tonight?" he asked as he lowered his gun, though he did not switch off the safety.

Samantha looked increasing uncomfortable but she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin before she spoke. "A demon that I have been tracking came after Ben tonight. I hide Ben in the closet behind a line of salt and tried to fight her off. She must have gotten freaked because she did some kind of telekinetic push to the window and ran off."

Dean nodded his head, there did not seem to be any obvious wholes in her story. "Do you know who this demon is?"

"Her name is Monika, she killed by dad."

"Why would she be after Ben?"

"Come on Dean everybody in the hunting worlds knows who you are and knows that any demon would give their get-out-of-hel-card for a chance to hurt you."

Her tone was light, but the truth of her words was one that had kept him up nights in the past. She was right about the threat of evil coming after him was very really. He had always expected at least one hunter to come find him, if not a demon.

"Are you here by accident?"

Samantha started, her eyes grew wide for a moment, but she quickly schooled them back into their usual look of indifference. Still her voice did not hold any of the confidence that her demeanour showed, it was soft and frightened. "I heard about your brother and I thought if you were hunting that you may like some help…"

Dean cut her off with a loud yell. "No one will ever replace my brother. If that's why you came here you can get lost sister because I do not need any help."

Samantha's eyes blazed with anger. "Really hotshot? I'm pretty sure I saved your son's life about ten minutes ago, so you may want to be grateful."

One thing that never worked with Dean was yelling at him and her angry words sent him forward in a threatening way all the while bellowing. "I may be grateful for you saving Ben, but you better believe that this Batman doesn't need a Robin!"

"But Dean needs Sam!"

Dean stopped and stared at Samantha's outburst. She had not backed away from his advance; she stood her ground now and levelled him with a gaze full of fire. The pain of losing Sam slammed into him once again and he felt as if he could not breath. He was not certain if Samantha meant his brother or herself, but either way it made no difference. Pulling a shaking breath into his lungs Dean spoke in a voice that was barely more then a whisper.

"Get out of my house."

The pain on Samantha's face came quickly and suddenly; her features seemed to crumble as tears sprang to her eyes. Without a word she moved towards the door of the bedroom, all the while keeping a wide distance from Dean. She paused in the doorway, her shoulders hunched into her form, her head looking downward. Her words carried to Dean though she did not turn around to face him.

"I just wanted to give you back what you wanted most."

With that she ran into the hall and out of the house into the night.

Dean stood in Ben's room. Slowly he picked up the overturned desk chair. Had he done the right thing or had he just let his anger get the better of him? Samantha had saved Ben's life twice know and she had been a good friend since their first meeting. Part of him wanted to trust her and another part felt protection for this girl who was essentially a stranger. Shaking his head to clear with confused thought he pondered perhaps the most importance question.

What could Samantha give him that Dean wanted most?


	9. Chapter 8

**I just noticed that only half of the chapter was posted earlier today. So for those of you who have already read the beginning of this one today please read the rest so you don't get confused on the next chapter. **

**I just wanted to thank everyone for staying with me so far. I would like to say a special thanks to angelyenc for always reviewing my story, without your reviews I may not have continued this story. **

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Sam had been pacing the floor of the apartment for the better part of an hour, he was pretty sure that soon his path would be permanently etched into the floor boards. Still when he reached the far wall he turned around and crossed to the other side, crutching the photo in his hand. He tried to tell himself that it was impossible, that the photo had been doctored to confuse him, yet he knew that he didn't believe it for a second.

It made everything fall into place, Samantha's cocky attitude, the way she always had a retort ready to make fun of him. Most of all he couldn't forget her eyes, they were green, his green and they had the ability to lock the world out one moment or shine every emotion out of them like a beacon.

Sam groaned, whatever the truth was he had to find out and fast. He turned towards the front door as he heard footsteps in the hall. He reached to his waistband, placing his hand on his gun and waited.

The door handle turned and Samantha stepped into the room. There was something wrong her posture was not her normal shoulders back, head high, come on and take me if you can attitude. She entered with her head down as if she was trying to disappear into herself, but Sam did not have the time to question it right now.

"Don't move!" he called out clearly, as he pulled his gun out and levelled it on the figure in the doorway. She stopped and raised her head to look at him, the expression on her face made him think that she was ready to knock someone out. Squaring his shoulders he continued. "Who are you?"

There it was, the look that told Sam that she thought he was a moron. "Samantha Browning, do you want to write it down so you don't forget this time college boy?"

Sam moved without thinking, he pushed Samantha back into the closed door, gun pressed into her side, his left forearm pressed against her chest so she couldn't move. She looked mildly surprised but she schooled her expression well. "Someone should have given me the memo, Winchester men are prone to cases of PMS."

Sam ignored the dig; he unclenched his fist and pushed the photo into her line of view. "What is this?" Samantha's eyes grew wide for an instant then became soft. Without lifting her gaze she whispered. "Where did you get that?"

"From the pocket of your coat, now explain to me what it means."

She continued to stare at the photo for a couple of moment before she lifted her eyes to meet Sam's. "What do you want me to say Sam? Doesn't it tell you enough?"

Sam felt the force of her words crash into him, he backed away from her, shaking his head. "No, no, no, no, no, it can't be true."

Samantha did not move away from the door, she simply wrapped her arms around her as if she was trying to physically hold herself together.

"It is true, Sam. I'm Dean's daughter."

Sam froze and looked at the girl who suddenly seemed so young. "You're my niece too, I guess."

Samantha looked at him then, a small ghost of a smile coming to her lips. "That's usually how it works, or so I hear."

Sam washed a hand over his face in an attempt to clear his head. "Can we start at the beginning? I'm guessing that you're not from this time or Dean would have been….ten when he had you."

"Eleven actually I'm 22 years old." Sam sat down at a kitchen chair and motioned Samantha to sit on the near by coach. "What do you want to know Uncle Sammy?" She asked innocently.

Sam felt a shiver go up his spin at the name; it would certainly take some getting used to. "How did you get back here?"

"Cas brought me back."

"Castiel? Why would he do that?"

"Because I asked him to." She said as if it was the obvious answer.

Sam sighed, every moment with Samantha was convincing him more and more that she was Dean child. "Please just start from the beginning."

Samantha smiled briefly, then looked away. She stared at the photo still in Sam's hand. "At 11:32am on April 23rd, 2010 Ben Braeden ran into on coming traffic to catch a football. He was hit by a car and killed on the spot."

"You stopped that from happening." Sam supplied.

"Yeah. The accident almost killed Dean, the guilt and grief over took him. Lisa couldn't help this time because she was mourning too. The strain became too much and one day before dawn Dean left Cicero in the Impala." She paused for a moment, took a breath and looked at Sam. "That was when you lost him."

"Lost him, what do you mean?"

"Sam, you have been following Dean for almost a year now. You have a schedule planned out now, when Dean left before you got there, you have no idea where to start looking for him."

Sam paused, it hadn't occurred to him that he could have lost Dean, he had been sure of his tracking abilities to find his brother if he ever left. Yet here was a girl who was telling him with certainly that his abilities would fail. "So what happened? I'm assuming he found someone, since you're sitting here."

"After about a year, Dean got hurt on a routine hunt. Thrown down a flight of stairs by a ghost or something. He was taken to the emergency room, and that's where he met my mom, Susan Browning." Samantha's eyes shone with love as she thought about her parents.

"I guess they hit it off. Dean was all jokes and flirting, she was a nurse who didn't give him the time of day. Somehow it all worked out, after Dean was released from the hospital he stuck around. After about a year of puppy love, they got married and nine months down the road I was born. I was named Samantha Marie Winchester."

Sam stared at the young women in front of him as she watched him back, she face partly hidden in shadow, but her eyes still shining brightly. The dull ache in Sam's chest had grown and spread to fill his whole body, right now all he wanted was to see his brother, who it seems would never forget him.

"Dean named you after me?" Sam spoke quietly, part of him not truly wishing to know the answer. "Why would he do that?"

Samantha cocked her head to the side, a curious expression on her face. "My dad named me after the most important person in his life. He used to tell me about my wonderful uncle who was able to push down the devil and sacrificed himself for the world." Samantha looked away for a moment, as if Sam's image was too bright for direct contact. "Part of me always wondered if he named me Samantha, so that he would be able to keep part of you near."

With that she stood up and moved towards the bathroom. As she turned away from Sam, he caught a glimpse of her down turned face; the well of sadness that was there took his breath away. He moved forward, placing his hand on her arm in a show of support. She stopped walking, but kept her back to him, her shoulders were hunched and tight with emotion.

"Sam, I just need some time to myself." Her whisper pleaded with him to release her, but Sam was not able to let go yet.

"I still have question Samantha. Why were you trained as a hunter? What happened to Dean? Why did you get Cas to send you back in time?

"In my bag you will find a journal, all the answers you are looking for should be in there." Samantha pulled her arm out of Sam's grip and moved into her quiet sanctuary, the washroom.

Sam sat staring at the door for a couple of minute. When he had first found the picture, he had wondered if she was truly Dean's child. Now it seemed almost obvious, her mannerisms were so like Dean's. Sam shook his head to clear it, why hadn't he seen it before?

He rummaged through Samantha's duffle bag until he found the journal she had mentioned. Placing himself near to the weak light from the small table lamp, he looked at the item. It was Dad's journal, though he was sure that it had seen better years. Some of the pages were lose, threatening to fall out. He could see places were Dean must have tapped pages back into place. His brother must have seen it as a way to honour their father.

Sam flipped through familiar pages about past hunts, and information about many of the creatures they had encountered. He only stopped when he came upon a section with Dean's messy writing scrawled down the page. Sam took a deep breath to calm his nerves and silently asked his brother to give him the answers to his questions.


	10. Chapter 9

**Here is the next chapter, I hope that it answers some of the questions that you may have been asking. Please tell me what you think about the way this story is playing out. I'd love to hear what everyone has to say. **

******If you read the last chapter the day it was posted you may have missed the last couple of paragraphs. I realized after at the version that was uploaded was not the final saved version. If you are confused please go back and see if you missed a little at the end. Sorry about this. Thanks for reading!"**********

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Sam was trying to calm his nerves, after months of watching Dean from a far without being able to talk to him or contact him, Sam was afraid to read what his choices had been to his brother. Quietly telling himself to grow up and calm down, Sam began to read the words on the page.

_Dear Sammy, _

_Ok, that just sounds crazy. I can believe that I'm going to be one of those Dear diary people, but I just really need to talk to someone. I need to talk to you Sam. It's hard without you, Sammy it's been hard. _

_I got married; some woman was actually nuts enough to say yes. Her name's Susan Browning you would say that she's way too good for me. We have a little baby girl. I named her Samantha, after you. _

_Susan's gone now; I don't really know what to do. That's why I'm writing to you Sam. I just need to believe for a couple of moments that you are still around, that I'm not all alone with this tiny life. _

Sam lifted his head and tried to fight back the sudden tears that filled his eyes. Dean had needed him, had needed help and for some reason he hadn't been there to give it to him. Sam was a sorry excuse for a brother of that he was absolutely sure. Dean would never have stayed away from him for so long, he would never had left Sam to mourn his death for so long. Yet Sam had done just that, and here was the proof that it was going to fail.

Sam turned his attention to the next entry. He was slowly let himself be drawn into his brother's words again, words that had been so carefully taken down in Dad's journal.

_Last night they came for Samantha. _

Sam felt a quick intake of breath rush into his lungs.

We were lucky though she wasn't in her bedroom. Sammy had another nightmare, so she crawled into my bed like she usually does when she's scared. When they broke in, she was safe snuggled into my chest. Thank God.

Sam slowly let a sigh of relief escape; he knew that it was ridiculous to have been worried; Samantha was in the next room.

_I heard the sound of glass shattering as they broke into her window. I had her in my arms and we were out of the house before they realized that we were gone. I got us into the Impala and out of the driveway as they attacked the roof of the car. My poor little girl screaming all the way. We are safe though; it took a while for Samantha to calm down enough to sleep. She only did when I ran my fingers through her hair and sang some Zeppelin to her._

Sam let out a laugh that sounded like a bark. She was definitely Dean's child.

_We made it to Bobby's safely. Sammy was happy to see her grandpa but she has been quieter then usual. I have to agree with Bobby, if there are demons after my girl, I might have to change my mind and train her to hunt. I just want her to stay a little girl for a while longer she's only 6._

So Dean had tried to protect his daughter from this life, it had only been out of necessity that he had begun to train his daughter.

Sam I might understand how Dad felt years ago. To watch Sammy shoot 5 straight targets dead centre made me proud and devastated all at the same time. Being a parent sucks dude, you Sammy she's worth it.

_Samantha is a lot like you. She has those puppy dog eyes that prey on you until she gets what she wants. She's really smart too; she's always reading stories to anyone who will sit still long enough. To think Sam that my child would turn out like you, it's kind of annoying sometimes actually._

Sam grinned, Dean was still giving him a hard time even through death. Maybe Samantha had some similarities to him, but he could see Dean shining out of her. She was definitely his brother's child.

Sam flipped forward a couple of pages; he saw an entry marked June 10th 2035.

_Sam is alive. I don't know how or anything really other then Sam is alive, and I have to save him. A demon has him; she says that she's had him for a long time. Where he was or why he hasn't tried to find me for all these years, I wish I knew._

_This demon is called Monika; she sent me a message telling me where she's hidden him. I know it's a trap she's testing me to see if I'll come for him. I have to at least try and save Sam, it's still my job. It will always be my job. I've got a plan._

Sam could also here his brother's voice in his head, speaking those words. He could hear the barely contained panic and fear of losing your family once again.

Samantha will not know about this. I'm not going to tell her where I'm going or what I'm doing. If nothing else she will be kept safe.

Sam turned the page. It was blank; he flipped casually a couple more pages to be meet with the stark white of the empty pages. That was Dean's last entry he thought, his heart jumping into his throat.

"He died that night." The soft voice broke into his thoughts, catching him by surprise. He had not seen or heard the bathroom door open. He wondered idly how long Samantha had been watching him.

"What happened?" Sam asked, his eyes downcast on his brother's words scrawl on the page.

"They were holding you in a warehouse. I followed him and meet him in the parking lot outside. He was furious." Samantha said with a hollow laugh that did not reach her eyes. "I told him that we Winchesters stick together and he wasn't going to dump me like last weeks casserole. Dad entered the building first. Monika was waiting; I guess she had some grudge on him for something he did years ago. She wanted to make Dad suffer so she kept him away from you. She didn't know that I was sneaking in to get you, while she was sharing her evil plan with Dad."

"But what was Dean's plan?"

"He had blessed the water in the fire extinguishing system. He set it off and the water burned her. While she was busy he got out of the building."

"And you had gotten me out another way while this was going on?" Sam asked cautiously.

"Yeah, and let me tell you it was not easy. You were partly unconscious and may I say that you need to knock it off on the burgers." Samantha smiled wryly, always pleased to tease her family members.

Sam smiled in return; she had a way of making him feel like everything would turn out all right in the end. "It kind of seems too easy to me."

"It was." The finality in her tone spoke volumes and Sam felt the dread creep back up his spine to settle in his gut.

"She knew we would get you out. She let us escape. Monika's great plan was to let you and Dean see each other again after 25 years, then kill you."

Sam closed his eyes against the pain that he could feel as if it was actually happening right in that moment. To be able to hug Dean and speak to him again, just to have him ripped away again would almost kill him.

He looked up at Samantha. Her eyes were unfocused as she stared at the memories that were playing in her mind. "She sent hellhounds they ripped into both of you. You screamed for each other, Dad screamed for me to get out of there." Her body was trembling so hard, that Sam could see her rattling her across the room. Samantha brought her hands up to each side of her head, tangling in her hair. "I can still hear your screaming in my head."

Twin green orbs of pure pain met Sam's eyes and he was moving towards her in an instant. He just made it across the more before Samantha's knees buckled and she fell into her uncle's arms. Sam lowered both of them to the ground and held the pieces of Samantha together as sobs racked through her, the terrible rattling of her chest filling the room. Samantha whispered words almost did not make it to his ears. "I had to find a way to stop it, to change it from happening somehow. Neither of you are going to hell again, if I can help it"

Tears silently rolled down Sam's face, he did not make a move to brush them aside. He simply pushed his face into Samantha's soft blond hair. This was the future he had chosen for his brother. A future that was filled with so much pain that his niece would go back in time to change the events that led to the death of her family.

Samantha froze in his arms. Sam pulled back to ask her what was wrong, when she brought her hand up in a gesture to keep quiet. There was a distinct clip of heels approaching down the hallway. Their apartment as the last one on this floor and was quite a ways away from any other rooms. No one should be coming near this room, usual they were coming here.

Sam jumped to his feet, brushed the tears hurriedly aside. He almost made it to his gun before the door was rammed open. An invisible wall of force slammed into both him and Samantha sending each colliding into opposing walls. Sam struggled against the unseen hands of power that kept him immobilized. He felt his airway begin to narrow, until he was unable to pull any sweet air into his lungs. He could do nothing, except open his mouth wide in a mad attempt taste even a tiny spill of oxygen. He could hear Samantha screaming angry words at the figure hovering in the hall. At least he knew that Samantha was still breathing, he thought in a crazed haze as the darkness crept around the edges of his vision.

Monika entered the room, glancing at both of the Sams with disinterest. She smiled and Sam felt a chill steal through him at the thought of what she still had planned for them.

His last thought before the black turn control was, I really need my brother right now.


	11. Chapter 10

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas or a great holiday so far.

I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to post this next chapter, I hope that you find that is was worth the wait. I'm planning to have the next chapter posted for next week, to make up for the long wait before this one was posted.

Thank you to everyone who is following or reviewing this story. It keeps me motivated, knewing that people are enjoying it. Please feel free to tell me what you think about it so far, I'd like to hear what you think.

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Sam's first clear thought was that he was uncomfortable. He could feel his back straining as he sat hunched forward and his arms were screaming to be let down. He made a move to stretch his arms above his head and was mildly surprised when he couldn't move his wrists. Sam cracked his eyes open a sliver and peered up at his left hand. His hands were bound to the wall by his head by what seemed to be strong ropes.

Squeezing his eyes shut again Sam gave a sigh, that would explain why he was so uncomfortable. He tried to think back to how he got to he sitting tied up on the moist ground; he had been attacked in his apartment and Samantha…

"Samantha!" Sam called out as his eyes snapped wide searching for his niece in panic. It was only then that he noticed the silent figure beside him.

Samantha was slumped forward her arms cuffed above her head the only thing holding her up. Whoever had bound her had thought to keep her on her feet; all her weight was placed on her wrist. Sam winced in sympathy at the pain she would feel when she woke up.

Sam leaned towards her, "Samantha, come on wake up." He called softly unsure of who could be nearby; he did not want to draw attention to them.

After a few moments Sam heard a groan come from Samantha's bowed head. She began to shake her head back and forth, then lifted it to take in her surroundings. When she meant Sam's hazel eyes, her own sprang open in surprise. She studied her surroundings for a few silent moments, then once she saw the predicament that they were in, Samantha leaned her head back and mumbled, "Sonovabitch."

She sounded so like Dean in that moment that Sam had to catch himself before he started laughing. He shook his head and moved his focus back to his niece who was absently pulling on her cuffs.

"Are you okay, Samantha?" he asked, his worry increasing, as she did not answer him or stop the pulling on the handcuffs. Sam could see that her wrist were becoming red and would soon start to turn raw, he tried to reach out to stop her but his bounds would not let him. "Samantha, stop doing that. You are only going to hurt yourself." She only pulled a little harder, her eyes staring desperately at the shiny metal forcing her arms above her head. As her desperation mounted Samantha began to yank on her wrists frantically. Every clank of the handcuffs against the pipe that she was chained to caused Sam's heart to clench in pain. He was unable to help her, he needed to break through to whatever place she had retreated.

"Samantha, stop it! We need to get out of here!" Sam ordered in true John Winchester fashion, his voice sounding harsh, masking the fear that fuelled it.

Dean must have used the same voice with his daughter, because Samantha immediately stilled and looked at Sam with wide eyes begging him to do something.

Just as Sam was attempting to find the words to comfort her, the door on the far side of the room swung open and the demon from the diner entered the room. This was not the same demon that had attacked Ben at Lisa's house or captured Sam and Samantha in their apartment. She actually seemed to be a younger version of that demon.

She slid up to Samantha's side and ran a hand down the side of her face. Samantha pulled away from the touch in disgust, the fear on her face from a couple of moment ago vanishing the moment the demon had entered the room. In its place was the customary smirk, though her eyes remained hard as she stared back at the demon.

"You killed my friends, you little bitch." The demon hissed, moving closer into Samantha space, her movements clearly menacing.

Samantha didn't flinch; she mockingly raised her eyebrow and returned the demon's icy glare. "I didn't realize that demon's had bffs. I guess I'm not going to be invited to any of your slumber parties now. Too bad, cause the more of your kind I kill the better."

The demon's fist shot out and cracked her across the face; Sam flinched as Samantha reeled back against the wall. The demon did not waste an instant to grab the front of Samantha's shirt and pull her close. Sam tried to move towards her, he had to do something to help her he though in desperation. The demon growled at his niece. "I'm going to rip out your.."

The threat was cut off by a sharp commanding voice from the doorway. "Let her go Monika." The demon that had captured them stood in the doorway. Monika froze, but did not let go of her prey. "but I want to hurt her." She whined in a voice that resembled that of a young child who's toy was being pulled away.

The demon moved forward into the room and as the light of the single bulb fell on her, Sam saw her more clearly. She was definitely an older version of the demon Monika who still had Samantha in her grip. She must be Monika from the future, the one who had dragged Sam and Dean into hell, leaving Samantha to mourn them.

"You will be able to hurt her soon enough, we just have to wait for our final guest." Icy fear ran through Sam's veins as he looked at Samantha, the same emotion was reflected back from her wide green eyes.

The younger Monika dropped her grip on the young hunter and moved to stand behind the elder. The hungry look in her eyes never changing as she moved away from her prey. Samantha fell slumped back against the wall, but quickly righted herself to glare at the elder demon. "What do you want with him?" Samantha asked, Sam felt pride as his niece spoke without a quiver in her voice.

Monika from the future smiled, the coldness sent a shiver up Sam's spine but if Samantha was unnerved by that smile she did not waver. Moving towards the two hunters, Monika let out a sharp laugh. "Your daddy and your uncle locked my master back in the cage, so I plan to take everyone important away from them."

Sam could do nothing but stare at the demon in shock, could this all really be about Lucifer? Would evil still search out them because of what he did in Stull cemetery? Looking at the demon Sam asked, "did you really search for two decades to get revenge for Lucifer?"

The demon paused and glanced at Sam. "I did not wait that long before I made my move. I attacked your brother and his precious daughter when she was six. I wanted to take his child and keep her alive for years, so that we could play with her."

Anger spiked in Sam's heart, the thought of Lucifer's followers touching his tiny niece fuelled the rage he felt towards this demon.

The demon smirked at Sam. "You see that's the reaction I wanted from Dean. I wanted him to suffer; he had already lost his mother, his father, you, his wife. All I needed to do was take his little innocent girl away and he would he crushed." She moved towards Samantha, taking her chin and forcing her head up to look at her. "I think that this is much better."

"It took me years to find and capture you Sam. You were hunting on your own, all the while keeping an eye out for any sign of Dean. It was pure luck that I found you injured, or taking you down may have been difficult. Then once I had you, I had to lure your brother to me and I could make you all pay. So I set up a hunt that I thought would catch Dean's attention. Sure enough after a couple of weeks, that black car of his rolled into town. Then all I needed to do was send your brother a message with a video of you tied up and he was running towards his death willingly." The demon puffed with pride at her actions.

"Everything went perfectly, I had killed both of you and your souls where in hell where they belonged, until this one decided to sweet talk your angel into bringing her to the past." Samantha took a step back as the demon approached her, only to hit the bricks behind her. "I couldn't let you take away my victory, so I stole an angel weapon, the Cup of Time and used it to follow you back here."

"Thanks for that monologue, it was great…. I mean really." Sam braced himself as Samantha addressed the demon. Why did she have to be just like her father? Baiting an evil bitch when she had the upper hand was never a clever plan. Samantha seemed aware of this fact as she took a steadying breath before continuing. "What is your plan now? Kill everyone now to get it over with?"

The demon regarded Samantha for a couple of moments, then leaned in close so that Samantha's vision was filled with Monika's smug face. "Change the future and miss the chance to hear you screaming for your family, I don't think so."

Samantha's mask of indifference slipped in that moment and Sam caught another glimpse of the hurt that she was barely holding in check.

The demon smile condescendingly at Samantha, she signalled the younger version of herself to leave the room, then moved to follow her. When the elder reached the door, she paused with her hand on the handle. "All I'm going to do in this time is offer Dean a choice, his babysitter or his brother. Based on what he knows who do you think he will chose to live?" With that she slammed the door closed, the echo of her last words slowly sinking in with the two hunters.

The silence that followed was thick and heavy; it sat heavily on Sam as he processed what the demon was going to do. Sam glanced over at Samantha. Her eyes were darting around the room, frantic to find a way out.

She spoke quietly under her breath. "We can't let her force Dad to chose between us. It will kill him."

Sam looked at Samantha sadly. "He doesn't know that you're his daughter, Sammy." He said in a soft voice, calling her by the name her father used as a way to calm her.

Samantha looked over at Sam, despair pouring out of her for a moment, before the mask slammed back into place. "I know that Sam. I know that he will save you, but do you think the demon is only going to kill me quietly. No, she's going to tell my father that he chose to save his brother and doomed his only child. We both know that Dean will not be able to live with that knowledge." She sighed and sagged a little in her bounds. "Can you image how he will feel, when he takes his newborn baby into his arms, knowing that he signed her death warrant?"

Sam knew his brother; he could almost see the pain on his face that a moment like that which should be so sweet would hold for him. After all this time trying to protect his brother, he was going to be the reason for Dean's downfall. Sam felt his usual stubbornness fall into place; Dean would not be hurt if he had anything to say about it. "We will just have to find a way out of here then. We need something sharp to untie these ropes."

Samantha froze for a moment; shifting her weight onto her left leg she rotated her right ankle. Her eyes widened in surprise and a small smile of satisfaction appeared. "No way!" she breathed. "Those two Monika's forgot to take my knife." She looked at Sam, with a smile.

Sam felt himself smiling in return. "Is there anyway you can get it to me?" he asked, stretching and leaning towards his niece.

Samantha paused for a moment; Sam could almost see a plan forming in her mind. "It's in a sheath under my right pant leg. I can't reach it, but maybe if I stretch my leg out towards our left hand then you can grab it."

Sam nodded, as Samantha planted her left foot to secure her balance. Placing some of her weight on her already red wrists she reached her right leg out towards Sam's out stretched hand.

Minutes of nerve filled concentration trickled by, both Sammy Winchesters focused on the task at hand. Both of their hearts determined to succeed for Dean. When Sam felt the cool handle of the hidden knife in his hand he took in the breath that he had not realized he was holding.

Whispering, "got it," to Samantha, Sam gripped the handle as to not drop it and slide it carefully as to not cut Samantha's leg. Clutching the prized knife in his hand, Sam began to work at the ropes. Samantha fell back with a groan, the cuffs clanking painfully against her as she tried to regain her footing.

Without stopping the movement of the knife, Sam spoke to Samantha with pride filling his voice. "Are you okay, Sammy? You did great, we are going to get out of here and save your father."

Samantha glanced up at her uncle, giving him a weak but genuine smile, which sent a feeling of warmth through his system. Maybe this was how Dean felt as he had protected him over the years. Sam knew that he was willing to throw himself in front of any evil, in order to keep Samantha smiling like that.

Samantha looked down away from Sam, her face a mixture of love and sadness. "Sam, I kind of feel like I need to explain myself a bit. I came back to the past because I thought that if I could protect you, Dad, Lisa and Ben then I could change the future, so that Monika would never drag you back to hell."

Sam paused his escape attempt for a moment; to look at Samantha's down turned head, her blond hair obscuring any view of her face like a curtain. He resumed at sawing the ropes, as a feeling of dread crept into him. "What would happen if you changed the future?" he asked.

Samantha's voice came from behind the fair curtain. "I was hoping that I could get you to reunited with Dean, then you could protect each other and finally be happy again."

"Dean is happy right now." Sam answered as a true stubborn Winchester.

"Dean may seem happy, but he will never stop mourning you or trying to find a way to save you. You know that family is the most important thing to Dean, my dad will be completely happy only when he is with his family again."

Sam felt shame wash over him. This is what he had known for months now, but he had continued to lie to myself saying that Dean was better off this way. He should have listened to his conscious and to his niece; if they escaped he will try to change the future.

This last thought made Sam pause his mind started whirling putting all the information together. What if when he changed the future, Dean never get hurt, go to the hospital and meet…

"Samantha" Sam called out in a voice that left no room for any of her joking remarks. "What will happen if Dean never meets your mom?"

The curtain parted and green eyes full of apology meet Sam's hazel ones. Sam sucked in a quick breath; Samantha had come to the past to change her family's future with the knowledge that she may write herself out of it.

"How could you?" Sam asked. Even as the words fell from his lips, images of Dad lying on the cold hospital floor and Dean being ripped apart by hellhounds flashed in his minds eye.

Samantha looked at Sam, pleading for him to understand. "My dad used to tell me, Sam, that every action we made was a choice. What we did showed the world what was important to us. He said that Winchesters always knew that each other was what was really important." She paused to get a hold of her emotions, then continued with a renewed strength in her voice. "When I saw you and my dad get killed. When I knew that you would both be tortured in hell again, I couldn't just go on with my life. You two were the only people I ever really had, since Grandpa Bobby and mom died."

Samantha locked eyes with her uncle. "When I was given a choice, I did what my father taught me." She smiled at Sam in a way that made all misgivings fall away. "I chose family."

Sam stared at her without saying a word. He wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time. If anyone was his brother's child, it was this girl who happily put her family before even her own life. He could see now why he had wanted to trust her; she was like Dean all the way down to her soul, where her loved ones were safely cherished.

Knowing that there was nothing he could do to change Samantha's course at this moment. Sam returned to fighting the bounds that tied him. They would save Dean together, then with Dean by his side, the brothers would protect the life that would become so precious to the both of them, Dean's daughter Samantha.


	12. Chapter 11

**I said that I would try to post again soon and I'm proud to be able to deliver. Thanks again to everyone reading, if you have a comment or a question or anything please feel free to review or send me a message. I hope you are enjoying this story, half as much as I am writing it. **

Dean had spent the better part of an hour putting Ben's room back in order. Moving around the room methodically without any clear thought about his actions. Neither Lisa nor Ben had come up to find him since Samantha had fled the house and Dean was quite thankful. They had really come to understand him, knowing when he needed time to think things through and when it was time to push him.

Dean could not seem to get Samantha's final words out of his head. They seemed to play on repeat through his mind and he felt that he was no closer to determining what she thought he wanted most. Samantha could not possibly give him back what he truly wanted most, because that was just crazy and impossible. Wasn't it?

Sigh Dean righted the last piece of furniture and turned towards the doorway. Leaning against the frame, her arms crossed over her chest watching his actions silently Lisa was waiting for Dean to immerge from the room. He locked eyes with her and saw all the questions that she was holding back with great restraint. Something had been in her house and had attacked her son. The girl who seemed to have saved Ben again was chased out of the house by her boyfriend, she had the right to some answers.

"Samantha's a hunter." Dean said sliding his eyes away from Lisa's in embracement. He should have protected his new family better. "She was trying to get close to me or something."

Lisa nodded her head and waited for further explanations. When Dean neither raised his eyes to meet hers nor offered more information, Lisa spoke up. "And?"

Thrown off guard Dean asked, "and what?"

Lisa gave a small smile of understanding. "So you found out that she didn't tell you she was a hunter so you ran her out of here?"

Dean rubbed the back of his head nervously, when stated like that it sounded like he'd taken a trip to Crazy Town. "I guess I did just kind of freak out." Dean returned Lisa's shy smile and shrugged.

Lisa moved forward and placed her hand on Dean chest. "So what are you going to do about it big man?" she teased lightly, running her fingers gently over his shoulder.

Dean captured her slight hand in his and brought it to his lips. He whined from behind her hand. "Do I have to do something?"

Lisa nodded. "You better get her to come back or Ben may not forgive you. He really likes her." She pulled her hand away from him and made her way out of the door. She turned to look at him. "Hurry back, I'll be waiting for you."

* * *

The impala rumbled up to the apartment building that he had dropped Samantha off at days before. Parking the car, Dean walked up to the building, Samantha had mentioned what room number she had in passing the other day, so he didn't think he would have difficulty finding the place. He had tried calling Samantha's cell number, but it had gone straight to voicemail.

Climbing out of the elevator on the fourth floor, Dean made his way towards the room. He hoped that she would be reasonable and accept his apology. As long as she even listened to him, then he should probably be able to get through to her.

Nearing the room, Dean felt his instinct shift into drive. The smell of sulphur wafted through the hallway, growing stronger as he moved towards the room at the end, the one he knew belonged to Samantha.

Not having thought to bring a weapon, Dean broke the glass over the fire axe and moved with trained precision towards the room. The door was splintered where the lock had been ripped out of the wall. Dean crept into the room and took in a sight similar to his own home. The furniture had been knocked over in a brawl; the sulphuric residue making Dean heart beat fast with fear.

A rattle drew his attention to the bedroom, moving quickly with the axe at ready Dean peered into the darkened room. A shadowed figure knelt near an object in silence. Bursting through the door Dean cried out from the stranger not to move. The figure did not react to the extra presence; he simply stood up and turned to greet his attacker.

"Hello Dean." The intruder said pleasantly, as his rumpled trench coat came into the light of the doorway.

"Cas?" Dean stared at his friend in shock. This was the last place he'd expect Castiel to be. Lowering the axe that had not seemed to faze the angel in the slightest. "What the hell are you doing here, man?"

"I am here to collect this angelic object that was stolen." He answered simply raising the object, a cup that glistened gold when the light fell across its rim.

Dean moved forward, reaching out to touch the unknown object. Cas pulled it back from him as if Dean was no more then a wilful child that would break all the valuables in the house.

"You should not lay your hands on this vessel, it is uncertain what time it will transport you to." Cas offered as an explanation for his grabby actions.

"Wait a minute" Dean said waving his hands in front of him to clear the air. "That cup is the angel version of a DeLorean?"

Cas blinked quietly at Dean from a couple of moments. "I know that you have used this reference before Dean, but I still do not understand what you mean."

Dean shook his head and laughed, some angels never change. Simplifying as to not confused the heavenly host. "Can the cup be used for time travel?"

"That is it's only purpose." Cas answered with a curt nod.

Dean nodded his head in return, then froze as the implications of this knowledge settled in. Dean moved towards Cas confusion and questions running across his face. "Why would Samantha have a angel's time traveling cup?" He rolled his eyes at how crazy that sentence sounded, even for him.

Castiel did not waver at the question, he simply stated. "That would be because she is from the future Dean."

Dean stared at his slightly aggravating friend; Castiel definitely knew something about this girl, which he wasn't sharing. This was too much, in a matter of hour his babysitter had turned into a demon fighter girl from the future. "Great" he mumbled under his breath. "Where did she get the cup from and why did she use it to come back here?"

"I am not sure where Samantha found the cup, but she did not use it to come to the past." Castiel answered with certainty.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I am the one who brought her back. I am Castiel from the future, not the one from this present."

It was certain that Dean did not have an answer for this piece of news, so he just stood there and looked at the impatient angel. He went to ask a question only to notice that his mouth had been hanging open and was desert parched. Dean swallowed to clear his throat for the bombardment of questions he had, when Castiel raised his hand to stop him.

"Dean, I am sure you have a litany of questions about this, but as you can probably tell Samantha was taken by a demon. I am not sure how long ago but I believe that the less time wasted the better off she will be."

Castiel made his way into the living room, expecting Dean to follow, which he did much to his annoyance. Despite Cas' no nonsense tone, Dean could see that he was right. They needed to help Samantha first, then he could quiz her about her actions. Just the thought of the young women in the hands of evil, made Dean see red. Dean strode towards the apartment door. "Come one Cas, lets go find her."

Pausing when he did not hear footsteps behind him, Dean turned to see Castiel standing in the centre of the room. "Hey, what are you doing? Let get this show on the road."

Castiel shouldered slumped a faction, "I can not help you save Samantha, Dean. As an angel I am not allowed to intervene in the past. You must save her on your own."

This whole situation was beginning to get on Dean's nerves, Samantha had lied, but she did not deserve to he served up to some demon as an appetizer. He fought not to growl out the next words. "Anna intervened in my parents life."

Castiel nodded in agreement. "Yes and look what Michael did to her for that."

Dean lifted his hands in defeat; time was a luxury that he simply didn't have. "Can you help me at all then, or are you just going to stand there?" He huffed.

Whether it was because Castiel saw the importance of the situation or because he saw how impatient Dean was growing, he answered quickly. "I can tell you where she is, I was using her things to locate her before you entered."

Nodding in appreciation, Dean waited for the instructions of how to get to Samantha. Somewhere along the way, Dean had begun to care about this girl, more then he truly understood and he would be damned if he let something happen to her now.

* * *

Sam bit back a cry of triumph as the second rope snapped under Samantha's knife. He was finally free, but he wasn't about to ruin his victory by call attention to them.

As he stood and stretched his back he glanced at Samantha. She was smiling at him as if he had just told her that she had won the lottery. Quickly he moved towards her, ready to pick the locks of the handcuffs.

He watched as Samantha's smile fell away as she saw what he was doing. "What are you doing get out of here now Sam!" she whispered hoarsely.

Sam shook his head stubbornly and looked at the locks. His heart ran cold at the sight. The metal where the keyhole should be was melted so that the opening was closed. Monika had bound the handcuffs to Samantha almost permanently; there was no way Sam could get these cuffs off without a hammer or something.

He spun around frantically looking for something to use to smash the cuffs apart. Turning back to Samantha he saw the apologetic look in her eyes, she had known that he would not be able to free her. White-hot anger filled him at this demon, who was so determined on hurting his family that she would go after the youngest member.

Sensing the change in Sam, Samantha leaned towards him and spoke in a voice that was gentle. "Sam, you know that she needs to keep me here, I'm the only one who can still hurt her in the future. What you need to do is get out of here and…"

"No!" Sam broke off Samantha's lunatic train of thought. "I will not leave my niece behind with two crazy demons."

Samantha offered a small smile. "I know you won't, Sam" Her voice soft as one uses to quiet a crying child. "What you will do is get out of here, find someone…anyone who can help. Then you will come up with a good plan on how you are going to get me out."

Sam shook his head in denial; he couldn't really leave her behind. What would Monika do to her when she found him gone?

Samantha eyes pleaded up at Sam, so that he could hardly bear to look at her. "Please uncle Sammy, as long as you and Dad survive I will be ok in the future, we will win. Just get out of here now." She dropped her head forward in defeat and Sam barely heard the whisper that followed. "Please."

"Okay." Sam answered before he could think the idea through anymore, for he was sure it would make him sick. He pressed her knife into her right hand, so that she was not completely unprotected, then leaned forward and touched the side of her face. "I'll be back, just hold on until then, okay?" Sam fought to keep his voice under control.

Samantha lifted her head and the fear in her eyes almost broke his resolve, but she was right this was the only way to possibly save all of them. Sam getting caught here, as he tried to break Samantha out would not help anyone.

Placing a tender kiss on the top of Samantha's head in her soft blond hair, Sam turned and made his way to the door on the far side of the room.

He did not turn and look back at his niece, because he didn't think he had the strength to leave her if he paused. No, Sam had to focus on escaping and on getting Dean so that together they could save his daughter.

It was a good thing that Sam did not turn back, because the sight of the silent tears that traced down her upturned cheeks would have broken his resolve in an instance. Samantha leaned against the wall, knowing that she had done the right thing in saving Sam, but secretly terrified of what her immediate future held in store. She would be strong for her family; she would stick to her choice no matter what comes.

**TBC- I'm sorry for yet another cliff hanger, I hope this one is not too bad. Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 12

**I know you will probably be surprised that I have posted the next chapter so quickly. It just worked out that I had some time to spare and was able to focus on writing. **

**Special Thanks to angeleyenc, cold kagome, jensengirl4eva, crazybookworm95, Jade St. Jms, Polia, BreezyFlow, for having given me reviews they really help motivate me to keep writing. **

**I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

Dean gazed out at the darkened forest, as he rummaged through the trunk of the impala collecting his supplies. The trees were dense and Dean knew that he would not be able to see very clearly once the canopy of the trees blocked out the moonlight. He grabbed a flashlight and placed it under his arm, there that would help with that problem.

Pulling his favourite shotgun out, Dean lovingly stroked the barrel; it had been a long time since he had held this gun in his hands. A mixture of sadness and the strange feeling of home came from the cool metal of the weapon. Snapping back to the task at hand, Dean filled his pockets with salt rounds, holy water flasks and lastly as an added precaution he put the Colt in his waistband behind his black.

Feeling that he was prepared for whatever awaited him Dean moved into the tree line.

Castiel had said that Samantha was being held in a cabin two miles west into the forest from where he had left the impala. Dean tried to do the mental math to determine how long it should take him, but he instead he kept his focus on the task at hand, which was to not walk into any still objects in this blackness.

Thankful that he had thought of the flashlight Dean moved silently through the bush, the year way from the hunt not affecting the skills that he had taken his whole life to perfect.

A snap echoed through the cool night air, followed shortly by a thud and a muffled curse. Moving towards the direction of the noise, Dean checked that his gun was in working order and switched off the flashlight, he would use his other senses to navigate for now. He came into what seemed to be a small clearing, the branches above allowed a small stream of light to fall onto the back of the person who had made the noise.

Dean stood at the edge of the clearing draped in shadow, peering around the trunk of a tree to get a better view.

The figure was male and quite large, from what Dean could see from his vantage point. He was crunched down in what seemed to be a ready position, as if he had believed that the noise would draw an enemy to him. Moments ticked by and when no danger came into sight, the darkened figure rose to his feet, straightened to his full height and the moonlight fell onto his shaggy head of dark hair.

Dean felt his heart stop and all sound dropped away. His shotgun slipped from his fingers as they lost all will to hold on. He stared across at a shape so familiar that it could hardly be mistaken. His mind told him that it couldn't be, but he'd know that form anywhere. His legs shook as he took a tentative step forward. What if this was some kind of trap?

The dark head snapped over at the sound of the weapon hitting the dirt and Dean looked into the face of his brother after what seemed like years.

A range of emotions drifted across Sam's face in a matter of seconds; surprise, confusion, then a look that told Dean he was recognized was followed closely by joy. Sam's face lit up with a smile and he breathed out "Dean." That sound was enough to drive it's way into Dean's heart and he suddenly didn't care if it was truly his brother he just needed to get to him.

Moving towards Sam with sure steady steps, Dean crossed the distance in record time and pulled his brother into his arms.

Sam wasted no time in wrapping his arms around his brother in a grip that spoke of how much he had missed him. Dean closed his eyes and breathed in the sent of his brother, if this was a trick then Dean hoped that it went on a little longer because in that instant everything was right again.

Pulling out of the hug but keeping a hand on his shoulder, the contact proof that Sam was here, Dean looked as Sam wiped the back of his hand over his eyes to hide the tears that had formed. Clearing his throat Dean fought back his own tears still caught in his eyes and allowed the stream of questions to spill out. "Sammy, are you okay? You're not hurt are you? How did you get here? How did you get out? Are you really him?"

He had not meant to voice the last question, but it had fallen out with the rest. It was never good to show a possible enemy your weakness. Yet he had already asked, so he reached into his coat pulling out a silver knife and a flask. Sam smiled reached his hand out taking the knife; he cut a clean line into his arm, then poured the blessed water over the cut to wash it out. Dean watched as nothing happened, then he looked up into his brother's smiling face, finally able to return the smile.

"It's really me Dean." Sam said in a voice that sounded on the brink of cracking. He seemed to be almost as happy to see Dean, as Dean was to have his brother alive in front of him.

"How did you get out Sammy?" Dean asked afraid of what the answer may be, remembering what his own freedom had led to.

Sam shook his head, "I'm not sure how I got out. One minute I was in the cage then I was free." He brushed a hand through his hair nervously in a gesture that was so Sam that Dean's heart caught in his throat and he almost threw his arms around his brother again. His smile slipped as he watched Sam's gaze slip off into a daze, the thought of the cage always made the hairs on the younger Winchester's arm stand on end.

Giving his brothers shoulder a squeeze in an attempt to remove the stricken look from his face, Dean nodded. "All that's important is that you're back Sammy." Sam locked his eyes with his brother and felt for the first time in a year that everything would be fine, despite the demons.

Sam gasped in horror, in his happiness in finding Dean, he had almost forgotten about Samantha. Dean eyebrow rose in question at the frantic look that had just appeared on Sam's face. "Dean we have to go back and save Samantha before the demons hurt her." Sam's words fell out in a rush.

Dean blinked in reply, though Sam noted the content look at finding him slipped away to leave a blank expression. "You know Samantha?" he asked too calmly for Sam to believe that Dean was feeling calm at all.

_Damn it_. Sam thought he had forgotten that Dean would probably not appreciate what he had been trying to do for him. Watching out for him from a distance, but not telling Dean that he was alive, would definitely give Dean enough reason to kiss his ass. He nodded in reply afraid to make matter worse by adding more rambling explanations.

Dean stared at his brother he could feel the heat of anger rising slowly, though he tried to school his expression to hide any sign of it. It was not working if the way that Sam was shifting nervously was any clue. Sucking in a calming breath Dean asked the question for which he dreaded the answer. "How long have you been out Sam?"

Sam slouched a little farther into himself and cleared his throat so that he could speak in a stronger voice. "A year," he squeaked out and almost rolled his eyes. _Great that really sounded confidant._

Dean continued to stare at Sam, then gave a quick nod and strode back in the direction he had come in.

"Dean!" Sam called out in surprise, being angry was one thing, but the brother he knew would never leave an innocent girl in harms way because he was angry.

Dean rolled his eyes, picked up his fallen shotgun and waved it at his excitable sasquatch of a brother. Sam visibly sagged in relief as his brother returned to his side, muttering something about little brothers needed to calm down and trust their smarter older sibling.

With that the two Winchester men set off back in the way Sam had come. When they reached what seemed to be a run down cabin, Sam gave the signal that this was the place. Dean huffed out a laugh, of course a demon would pick a building so run down that half of the roof was threatening to cave in at any moment. Crunching down he passed a knife and the Colt to Sam, who accepted them with a nod of thanks.

Leaning close to Dean's ear Sam spoke below a whisper. "Samantha is being held in the basement. There are at least two demons inside."

A waling cry broke into the night air and made both the hunter's blood run cold. The cry was of pure pain and both men knew who's voice it belonged to. Before Dean could react, Sam was on his feet and moving towards the house. So much for making a plan, Dean thought as Sam moved with almost frightening determination. Dean followed behind, instinctively watching his brothers back as they entered the cabin.

The main floor was a mess, years of grim and dust covered all surfaces. Mould grew on the legs of wooden chairs that harsh winters had dampened over the years. Wrinkling his nose against the smell that years of hunting really should have accustomed him to by now, Sam moved silently down the stairs.

As they moved into the basement, they could hear that the cry had turned into muffled sobs. Sam knew that Samantha must have been fighting against the pain to not give the demon any satisfaction. After a couple of moments, Sam heard Samantha breathed a hostile "Sonovabitch," at the demons.

Elder Monika barked out a heartless laugh at the young hunter's attempt at showing strength. "Come on Sammy, I know that it hurts. Just tell me where your precious Uncle Sam went and I will finish this quickly."

Sam felt Dean stiffen beside him; Sam hazarded a glance over his shoulder at Dean's sheet white face. Sam squeezed his eyes shut, so much for keeping it from him. Judging by the way Dean was starting to shake, Sam knew that Dean had heard the demons words. He glanced over his shoulder again and was met with the cold determination that Sam had seen only ever directed on evil that was threatening Sam or Dad. Yeah, Dean had definitely heard the demons words.

Samantha let out a sharp hiss that was closely followed by a cry as the demon ripped into her again. The brothers moved together this time both shooting the elder demon who was inflicting pain on one of their own.

The future Monika flew back in pain as the salt crashed into her, but the younger demon did not waste time to slam the hunters into the far wall. Dean groaned in pain as he fought against the pressure of the demon's power. They would have to work a little on their partnership before next time. Note to self make sure that both demons get shot, he though idly.

He looked across the room at the young girl from the future. Samantha was chained to the wall with her hands on either side of her head; a slow trickle of blond was dripping from her stomach as she tried to fold in on herself to block the pain. He could see a glimmer of sweat covering her forehead and her jaw was clenched in pain, but the eyes that were locked on Dean showed that she was not afraid for herself. Dean stared back at Samantha, his Samantha, that's what the demon had said wasn't it?

"Oh look," the demon voice drew Dean's attention away from the injured girl. "The whole Winchester family is together at last." The elder demon moved into Dean's face, pressing up against him. Unable to move away he sent her a glare that would make many grown men back away. Monika just smiled. "I'm not sure if you have been properly introduced, meet Samantha your only child who came back from the future in an insane quest to save her precious daddy from me."

Samantha dropped her gaze away from Dean's as if she was ashamed. Dean wished that she would look up again to give her some form of support. Samantha lifted her head again, a determined smirk replacing the haunted eyes from a moment before. "I said come back when you had a good plan Sam. So far this is not at all what I had in mind." She spoke with surprising strength.

Glancing over at Sam, Dean could see as his brother masks his feelings as well, returning Samantha's smirk with an easy smile. "Sorry Sammy, all I could think of was that if we keep your parents safe then you will be safe in the future." A spark happened in Samantha's eyes at Sam's words, Dean could swear that he could see a plan moving between the two of them.

Samantha spoke her eyes traveling over to Dean. "That's the difference with you, something happens to you now there is no future."

Dean just stared from one Sammy to the other. What the hell were they talking about?

Dean's eyes traveled around the room, wondering what could they mean? He paused as his eyes fell on the younger demon who was staring at Samantha as if she could rip out her liver and eat it. The resemblance hit him and all at once his family's words became clear. He smiled, showing everyone who was truly the master at hiding his true feelings.

The younger version of Monika whipped her head around at all the smiling Winchesters, her annoyance quickly turning to rabid anger. The older Monika stepped towards the volatile demon in order to stop her path towards the youngest Winchester. The elder was too late, as the young demon grabbed the girl yanked her forward and sneered into her face. "I'm going to rip that smile off of your face you little…"

As she spoke Dean felt her grip on him and Sam loosen slightly. He moved his freed hand slowly, and saw as he caught Samantha's attention over the demon's shoulder. Samantha suddenly pulled a knife from within her right sleeve and threw the knife with surprising aim into the wall a foot from Dean's hand. Grabbing the knife Dean threw it with all his might into the back of the young demon holding his daughter in her grasp.

The pressure disappeared and the hunters dropped to the floor. Sam jumped to his feet pulling the Colt from his waistband and shot the already injured demon. Her body quaked for a moment, energy cracking to the surface. Then she slumped to the side, dropping Samantha unceremoniously on the floor.

The elder demon screamed taking a menacing step towards the men, when she jerked to a stop, grabbing her chest, then in a flash of energy and light she disappeared.

All three hunters froze in shock, eyes watching the fallen demon. Then Samantha lifted her head back and laughed. "Thank God that worked," she said with a laugh that was closely followed by a wince of pain. Dean and Sam moved towards her as the rest of her strength evaporated and she sagged forward in the cuffs. Quickly making good use of the butt of the shotgun Dean and Sam released Samantha's red and bruised wrists.

Once she was slumped against the wall grateful that her arms were finally down by her side, Dean gently brushed the fair hair out of her eyes and lifted his girl into his arms. Dean was surprised at how quickly he had come to care about this girl, as he stared down at the face that he had never really studied until now.

Samantha made a mumbled comment about being too old to be carried and being glad that no eligible men were around to see her father treat her like a child. Sam reached out and pressing his outer shirt which he had just shed down on the wound that was bleeding sluggishly. Samantha leaned her head against her father's strong shoulder and closed her eyes.

The last thing she remembered before she slipped into the darkness was her father's voice repeating softly.

"I got you baby, you one will hurt you now."


	14. Chapter 13

**Thanks to everyone who has been following and/or reviewing this story, this is the last chapter, but there will be an epilogue to come. This chapter was a hard one to write, I hope that you enjoy it. **

* * *

Time seemed to stop as Sam and Dean carried the youngest member back to the impala and returned to the apartment. Sam felt that he was teetering on the edge of panic, as Samantha remained unconscious throughout the whole process. He was only able to relax slightly, when she was safely resting on his bed after they had patched up her wounds.

Dean sat on the edge of the bed, wiping the dirt and sweat off her face with a cool damp clothe. The lines of pain in her forehead troubled him and he tried to smooth them out as he gently brushed her hair out of her face.

Sam had spent the ride to the apartment and most the time that they were helping Samantha to tell Dean everything that had happened since he had escaped from hell to when he met Dean in the woods. Dean had kept his cool as his brother spoke, after a couple outbursts at the beginning when Sam had said that Dean was better off without him, Dean became unnaturally quiet. Sam was unsure what was worst Dean yelling or this calm silence, he knew his brother would freak out, it was just a question of when.

Now he just sat still beside his daughter watching her with a force grown from pure determination and a love for his family. Sam idly wondered who was going to receive the worst tongue-lashing, Samantha for risking her life for them or him for keeping his escape from hell a secret.

Dean wanted to yell at his brother, kick his ass for the months of worry, but he couldn't find it in him. He had started giving Sam a piece of his mind about the matter, but Sam had just listened to him with a goofy smile on his face. Not that Dean could blame him, when it came down to it he was happy to have Sammy back. Maybe what had happened before wasn't really an issue, just something that they should move on from.

Soaking the washcloth in the bucket of water again, Dean's mind traveled back to the way the brothers had been fighting before the apocalypse had ended. It seemed to him that the best course of action was to forgive Sam and move on with their lives, as to avoid any more confrontations. Well maybe yell at him then forgive him Dean thought with a slight grin.

Sam moved away from the first aid kit, which he had been staring at for the better part of a half hour, towards the opposite side of the bed. He moved the blanket and Samantha's shirt up enough to look at her bandaged wound. His brow furrowed, making Dean lean forward to take a look as well. The bandages beginning to be soaked with fresh blood.

Dean stood up and went to dump the water into the sink, stating, "We have to take her to the hospital."

He only paused when Sam answered him with a quiet, "no."

Sam's head was bowed down. He wouldn't raise it to look at Dean, but judging by the set of his shoulders he would not be backing down easily.

Dean moved forward, pointing forcefully at the young girl. "She is going to bleed out if we don't do anything."

Sam glanced up, the worry on his face showing that he was quite aware of this fact. "Dean, we don't have any insurance for her. This is not just a place we can take off from and never return. You have Lisa and Ben here."

"What do you want me to do doom her, sign my daughter's death warrant, so that I can be with Lisa and Ben?" Dean said in a voice that betrayed no emotion.

Sam watched his brother silently, unsure how to proceed. He did not want to watch Samantha die, but she had said that if Dean survived so would she in the future. Yet, he also saw that Dean was not going to see things in that way, all he saw was a young girl who he should be protecting in pain.

Anger boiling over inside of him, Dean savagely kicked out at the nightstand by his feet. He almost smiled in satisfaction as the wood splintered under his attack. Whirling around, he yelled out into thin air. "Castiel! You better get your feathery ass down here right now and save my baby girl. Or else I'm going to use your wings to stuff a duvet."

Sam quirked his eyebrow at his brother, "dude, a duvet?" trying to hide a look of amusement.

Dean shrugged lightly, his anger draining away. Sam always knew how to deal with him. "Lisa has one on our bed."

Dean felt defeat wash over him when nothing happened, what kind of a father was he if he couldn't protect his only child?

"If I had known she was injured, I would have been here sooner." a voice spoke behind him. Both Dean and Sam spun around in time to see Castiel lean over Samantha, place two fingers on her forehead and close his eyes. No one moved for a heartbeat, then the ridges of pain smooth out of the young hunters face and Samantha let out a sigh of relief in her sleep.

Dean quickly moved to the side of the bed, reaching out to shake her awake, softly saying. "Come on Samantha, open your eyes from me please."

Samantha did not comply with her father's request; instead she rolled over and borrowed into the comforter.

Dean sat back and smirked. "She's definitely as stubborn as you are Sam. I guess I name her right." He said with a chuckle.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Man, she is so like you, that it's creepy."

Dean stood up, and moved towards Castiel. Patting him on the shoulder, Dean smiled at his friend. "Thanks Cas for helping, now if you can just bring her back to her own time that would be great."

Castiel looked troubled by this request his eyes traveled to Samantha nervously. "I would Dean, but it would be quite pointless."

Dean stilled. Both Winchester men stared at the angel in confusion. Sensing a change in Dean's attitude, Sam moved forward just in time to stop Dean from charging at Castiel. Grabbing his brother's arm he pulled him back, as Dean bellowed into Cas' stony expression. "What do you mean pointless?"

"Dean calm down, this isn't helping" Sam said in the same commanding voice that John Winchester had once used.

Dean stopped fighting his brother and shrugged off Sam's hands. It wasn't until Dean shot a look over at Sam to tell him that he was not going to try that again that Sam turn his attention back to Cas.

In the same ordering tone as before Sam addressed the nervous angel. "You better have a good reason for not helping my niece. You were the one who brought her here in the first place, right?" Pausing for a moment he asked. "You are the Castiel from the future, not our Cas?"

Cas nodded his head. "I am from the future, but I can not change the fact that bringing Samantha there is not right."

Dean glared at Cas as he yelled out. "This is bullshit..."

"Dad! Stop." Came a clear voice as Samantha forced herself between her father and the heavenly being, placing her hand against her father's chest to stop any further attacks.

Dean didn't stop glaring, only moved it to take in his daughter. "Samantha, you should be in bed getting some rest."

Samantha shifted her weight onto her heels, cocking her head in question. "I would if there wasn't a yelling match going on in the same room." Turning her back to her family, Samantha smiled kindly at the angel. "You can go Castiel. Thanks for everything." Her smile slipped for an instant, forcing it back into place Samantha continued. "Just don't forget your promise, okay."

Castiel nodded solemnly, not reacting to Samantha bright smile at all. "I will not forget, Samantha. I will never forget."

With that the spot that had held the angel was vacated and only the three Winchesters remained in the room. Samantha stared at the spot intently before squaring her shoulders and turning back to the men awaiting some form of explanation.

"Let's celebrate," she all but yelled. Dean and Sam stared back at her as if she had admitted to loving demons.

Dean glanced at his brother in confusion and when he didn't receive any answers, refocused on Samantha. Dean spoke with little amusement in his voice. "Ok, I'll bite, why should be celebrating?"

"I did it." Samantha stated simply. Then her eyes softened, growing round with surprise. "I did it." She repeated this time wonder filling her voice. A laugh bubbled up from Samantha; she turned to Sam with eyes full of hope she said. "Changed the future and saved you both."

Sam and Dean stared at her in surprise as she began laughing. Sam grinned at the wonderful sound of his nieces joyful laughter, feeling that he would do a lot to get to hear her laugh like that again. The goofy look on Dean's face, suggested that he was thinking the same thing, Sam thought with a chuckle.

Dean sent Sam a sharp look at the sound then turned his attention back to his daughter who was beaming. "That's really great Samantha, but what did Castiel mean by sending you back to the future was pointless?" He tried to make himself sound in charge, but his voice sounded scared to his own ears.

Samantha gave a bored looking shrug. "Oh that's nothing. He told me that he could only send me back for a year before the future would pull me back. Something to do with the stars aligning or some heavenly business. To tell the truth I don't even know what he was talking about, because I wasn't listening to him."

Sam studied Samantha to see if she was bluffing, but he couldn't tell. Something definitely was not right. "So you will just go back when you hit a time limit?" he asked.

"Yeah I guess that's how it works. My time should be up in the next couple of days actually." Samantha said moving passed them to stretch out on the couch.

Sam nodded, not completely buying it, but knowing better then to start something now when Dean was still upset. He would wait until his brother was not angry about their hiding things from him, then they would confront Samantha together.

Dean did not seem to agree with Sam, because he moved up beside the couch and looked down at the girl. "What about the promise Cas made? What was that for?"

Samantha gave a heavy sigh, looking away from her father's glare for a moment. When she looked back at him, her expression was unreadable. "Cas promised that he would clean up my fingerprints when he was gone, okay?" she asked almost pleadingly. She waited until both Dean and Sam nodded in agreement, then she grabbed Deans arm pulled him down onto the couch and cried. "Can we please celebrate now? I just saved both your asses from a return trip to hell."

Dean smirked, stretching his arms out then clasping them behind his head. "Do you have any beer, Sammy?" He mumbled with a yawn.

Sam rolled his eyes and went to refrigerator. Tonight the Winchesters would spend some time together; they could deal with everything else in the morning.

* * *

Dean had been lying on the floor unable to sleep for what seemed like hours now. He was on the floor because both him and Sam had felt that Samantha should get the only bed. Sam was fast asleep on the couch because Dean always had to throw scissors. Dean groaned as he tried to stretch out his back again, he should really consider changing his rock, paper, scissors strategy.

He had fallen asleep easy enough, only to be woken up from a nightmare. In those seconds before waking he had believed that the events of the day were a dream and if he opened his eyes Sam would still be in hell. It was then that he noticed the soft snoring coming from nearing by. He had cracked his eyes open and pulled himself up onto his forearms to peer at the person sleeping on the couch.

Dean felt the same rush of joy and comfort as he had in the forest, at his brother's peaceful face. Sam always looked so much younger when he was asleep and Dean could feel his old protectiveness rising to the surface. He wasn't angry with Sam anymore, not that he was going to let him know that. He'd let Sam try to make it up to him for a while then he'd tell him that they were okay.

He had decided about an hour ago, that he could not watch Sam sleep all night, it was just too weird; so he settled with lying back and listening to him breathe.

He heard a rustle from the bedroom, followed by quiet footsteps approaching the door. _Samantha must be going to the bathroom,_ he thought idly as the bedroom door creaked open.

Dean didn't say anything in order to not scare the poor girl or to wake up Sam. Samantha moved into the living room area, stopping silently at the couch, then to Dean's utter surprise crept out the front door.

Dean sat up and stared at the closed door, not understanding what had just occurred. Where did his daughter think she was going? He glanced over at Sam to see that his brother was watching him. Sam had never been a heavy sleeper.

Sam pulled himself out of bed and moved towards his pile of clothes. Looking over his shoulder to see Dean was doing the same. Sam spoke in a measured voice. "We should go see what she's doing."

A couple of minutes later the brothers stepped out of the apartment into the streetlight.

On the other side of the parking lot, mostly covered in shadow was the impala and they could see the lone figure perched on the hood.

Samantha did not look up from the ground as they approach her, but they could tell that she knew they were there.

Dean stopped a couple of feet in front of her and crossed his arms. "There you are. Good, I thought that you were running away."

Samantha lifted her eyes to take in her father. They were wide and round, and Sam could not help feeling that she was lost. "I was trying to run away." Samantha answered in a soft voice. She rubbed her hand over the surface of the car lovingly. "I guess I didn't get very far," she chuckled half-heartedly.

Dean moved forward and leaned against the hood to Samantha's left. Sam moved to take the place at her right, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, this car was pretty much home for Dean and me," Sam said after a minute of silence. "It would make sense if it meant the same to you."

Samantha looked at Sam out of the corner of her eye. She seemed to be measuring him, judging his mood. Sam schooled his emotions, he knew how secretive she could be and he didn't want to discourage whatever she needed to say.

Samantha stared off ahead of her, her eyes seeing things that had yet to be. "When I was about eight years old, I was having terrible nightmares." She paused to gather her thoughts, then continued. "One night when they were really bad, Dad got me bundled up, got us some drinks and took us outside to the impala."

"Drinks?" Dean asked slightly worried about his future paternal skills.

"Jus boxes." Samantha replied, much to Sam's amusement. Dean shot Sam a look that told him clearly to shut it. Samantha continued. "You sat us on the hood like we are now, then you told me about my Uncle Sam." Samantha twisted her hands in front of her nervously. "You had never really told me too much about him until that night. You told me about how he had wanted to go to school, and that if I ever wanted to then you would do everything in your power to get me there. You told me about how you gave your life for him. You told me about how Sam said yes."

Sam felt a rush of cold air fill his lungs; he didn't want his niece knowing his shame. Samantha turned and looked straight at him. "My dad told me how strong and brave you were to save him that day in the cemetery. How proud he was of you that day. That's when I understood what this family was about."

Unable to meet the young girl's eyes, which were looking at him with such love and approval, he looked up at Dean. There was a half smile playing on Dean's mouth and his eyes told Sam that everything she was saying was true.

Dean chuckled trying to rid Sam of his stricken look. "You remember that story pretty well for being eight at the time."

To his delight Samantha smirked for a moment. "What can I say? It was a good story. You had to do quite a few repeat performances over the years."

Samantha then went back to staring ahead of her. Dean waited then leaned back casually, though his face remained concerned. "So why were you leaving, Samantha?"

Samantha began to speak then stopped herself shaking her head. "Every action you take is a choice about what is important, you taught me that." She said then continued with renewed strength. "This is my choice."

"What choice is that?" Dean asked in a voice so quiet that Sam almost did not hear it.

"I chose family." She said lifting her chin up and smiling sadly.

The world around the impala fell away as Sam remembered their conversation in the cabin. Samantha must have known all along that this was where she was leading.

"Why can't you go back to the future?" Sam asked her again, knowing that the answer would be different this time.

Samantha's gaze never flickered, but she set her jaw before she spoke. "I changed the future. I can't go back to a future where I do not exist."

Dean's heart clenched at those words. He had known that she had been hiding something, but this seemed unbearable. It was as if someone had dangled food in front of a dying man to rip it away before he could taste it.

Dean spoke up needed to understand what she meant. "So I'm never going to have you as my daughter because of what you've done?"

Samantha nodded. "I knew the risks."

Dean felt the sadness be overtaken by anger. She had done this intentionally nothing that she could be destroying herself.

"So you decided the best course of action was to give up your life to save Sam and my future?" Dean said barely keeping himself on the verge of yelling.

Samantha squared her shoulder and addressed her father. "I couldn't let you guys spend eternity in hell, not after you had already been there." The Winchester stubbornness flaring up on her face.

"Why would you think signing away your life for us was a good idea?" Dean shot back.

"You did it for Sam!" she cried in return. Dean face dropped at her words and Samantha immediately backed down at the expression.

Closing his eyes, Dean let out an empty laugh. "I guess I would bring up a child that was as self-sacrificing and suicidal as I was."

Samantha looked at Sam, silently asking for help. When he did not offer any she turned back to her father. "Dad?" she said cautiously. "You always told me how important I was to you. I knew how much you loved me, I always knew. But you also taught me that family comes first."

She paused, when Dean did not move she continued in a humourless voice. "Come on guys, dying and not existing are very different." With that they all fell into silence, the weight of what was to come resting heavily on their hearts.

"It's the same to us." Sam spoke out suddenly. Samantha looked questionably at her uncle. "It will feel like a loss either way to us."

Samantha's eyes filled with tears, though they did not fall. "I know," she answered. "Look, I can feel it pulling at me away now. It's been doing it since Sam escaped from the cabin, when you decided to go get Dean, but it's stronger now. I don't think I have much time left."

Pushing herself off the hood of the impala she began to walk away. "So I'm going to be on my way…"

"No." Dean stated flatly. Samantha paused and turned back to find him watching her with a stern look. "What you are going to do is sit down on this beautiful car with us like a..like a…" Dean trailed off, his commanding father act falling apart.

"Like a family." Sam supplied.

Dean looked at his brother in thanks, smiling sadly. "Yeah a dysfunctional one, but a family until the end."

No one moved for a moment, then Samantha launched herself at her father burying her face in his chest. Dean brought his arms up around her and placed his face in her blond hair. He tried to record exactly how this felt, to have a child rely on you, to be the most important person to a little life. He closed his eyes and knew that he loved her in returned. _Wasn't that what father's do?_ Neither spoke because even now they knew each other well enough to know what the other felt.

Sam watched the pair silently, fighting back the tears that were forming. Samantha raised her head and pulled away from Dean. She moved over to Sam wrapping her arms around him. "I used to be angry at you for leaving my dad, but I understand why you did it now Sam. For the same reason as I did this." She whispered into his ear. "I love you uncle Sammy."

Sammy tightened his hold on his niece who had been his partner for weeks now. He had grown used to having her around, their earlier strained partnership had moved towards friendship. "I love you too kiddo." He answered, knowing that it was true. That was just the way it was with family.

Samantha pulled back and brushed at the tears that were trailing down her face. Sam absent-mindedly moved his arm to take care of the ones coating his face.

Dean groaned. "Great now I have two bawling Sammys on my hands."

Both Sammys laughed in relief at something to break the tension. Samantha settled herself back on the impala between the brothers. This time though they sat closer so that their arms were just brushing.

Dean slung a careless arm over Samantha's shoulder. "Did I ever tell you about the time that I had to save Sasquatch here from some human hunting crazies?" Samantha relaxed, shaking her head though the smile on her face told them that she knew the tale.

Sam smiled cutting into his brother's narration. "As I remember it, you were taken out by a little girl." He brightened at the glare Dean sent his way.

They sat like that for about an hour. Dean and Sam telling various tales from their past, with Samantha piping up to add how Dean had embellished the stories over the years. As time past, Samantha grew quieter, the unseen force pulling on her more and more. Still, they kept on talking, until Samantha pulled away with a gasp.

Samantha's face suddenly lit up and she breathed out a single "oh". Then a rush of wind blew from behind and Samantha disappeared into the air as if she was made of sand. For an instant she was there before them, then she was completely gone as if she had never been there to begin with.

Sam looked at Dean, tears running down his face, this time he made no move to stop them. He wanted Dean to do something to make the pain lessen, but when he looked at him, Sam knew that he was not alone in this suffering.

A single tear escaped from Dean's filled eyes and Sam watched it make its way down his face and drip off his chin. Dean stared at the space where Samantha had filled the air, as if he would will her back if he could.

Neither spoke because there was really nothing to say. The youngest member of their family had given everything to bring them back together because she knew that they needed each other. What could they really say now, that would change all of that? So they sat into the night in silence, finding comfort in the presence of the other near by.

* * *

Castiel stood in the shadows, unseen by those at the car, though he had watched everything. He had not left as he said he would. Castiel started this journey with Samantha and was going to see it to the end. He sighed as she left this world, the crushing feeling of being helpless taken him over.

He sighed and whispered to the girl who was no longer there. "I will keep my promise and wipe away your fingerprints." He looked up at the stars in the night sky. "I will remember you Samantha. I will remember you in the morning.


	15. Epilogue

_Dean crept up the driveway towards the house. It was unusually quiet; he could feel that something was up, right down to his shoes._

_Just then a streak of blond and blue shot out of the bushes leaping straight into Dean's arms._

_"Daddy!" cried the small 5 year old, laughing. "I got you. You didn't know I was there, did you?"_

_Dean looked into the eager little face and couldn't help but smile. "No Sammy, I didn't see you coming. You really scared me." Dean pouted at the little girl watching as her face dropped, her eyes growing round._

_"I'm sorry daddy." She said patting his cheek gently. "Love you."_

_Dean buried his face in her soft hair. "Love you too, Samantha."_

_Suddenly she changed from a cuddly child to a wriggling mass that Dean struggled to keep from falling._

_"Uncle Sammy!" she cried joyously, reaching towards her uncle as he came up the drive. Sam scooped his niece in his arm, rubbing his nose against her little upturned one._

_"How's my favourite niece today?" Sam asked the attentive child, who jumped right into a tale marking all the excitements of kindergarten life._

_They entered the small kitchen and said goodbye to the babysitter. Sam looked over the blond head at Dean and mouthed "pizza?" Dean nodded and grabbed the phone book from the top drawer. He watched his little girl telling her uncle every moment of the day and the soft look on Sam's face. Dean smiled to himself as he flipped through the phonebook, happy to be with his family._

Dean groaned as he reached the edge of waking. He lay there for a couple of minutes trying to remember the whole dream, but could only recall glimpses. A tiny blond girl in a blue dress, throwing her arms around Dean's neck. Dean rubbed a lazy hand over his face, where did these dreams come from? He spends almost his whole life as a bachelor then this last week he had been dreaming of having a daughter.

"You ready to get some breakfast man?" came Sam's voice from the other side of the room.

Dean rolled over pulling the blanket over his head mumbling something about little brothers should be quiet until noon.

Sam got up and trudged over to the bathroom to take a shower. Dean stuck his head out from under his blanket. It had been a week since he had gotten Sam back and Dean could not completely trust this good fortune. Lisa had been very understanding, allowing him to take some time alone with Sam, as long as he promised that he would be back in a month.

Dean had told Sam that he forgave him for staying away for the last year on the second night, they had spend the rest of the week watching the stars each on the hood of the impala. Neither of them could remember what exactly had happened on the first night that they had been reunited; all they could remember was shooting the demon and watching the stars.

He got out of bed and started collecting their stuff, because they would be heading out soon. They both had decided that they should take a small break from hunting and Sam had suggested that they go see the Grand Canyon much to Dean's delight.

In two hours the Winchesters found themselves on the road, fed and content. Dean glanced over at Sam he had a thoughtful look on his face. Rolling his eyes, he smirked to himself; it was so like Sam to he lost in thought. Dean had forgotten how much that used to annoy him, but right now he was just happy to have Sam in the passenger seat.

"What is going on in that big head of yours Sammy?" Dean asked reluctantly.

Sam glanced out at him surprise at his brother's interest written on his face. "I was just thinking about some weird dreams, I've been having." He chuckled at Dean's panicked expression. "Calm down, not the predict the future kind of dream."

Dean visibly relaxed at that news. "What were your dreams about then?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. "It doesn't really matter. They are nice dreams though, but about things that will probably never happen."

They fell into comfortable silence for the next couple of kilometres.

"Dean?" Sam asked quietly.

"What is it now Sammy?" Dean groaned. Sam smiled not buying the act at all.

"Why did you forgive me for hiding from you? All I've ever done is fail you." Sam spoke in the voice that sounded like that of a young child.

Dean tapped the wheel as he thought of how to explain to his brother how much he meant from him with out it turning into a giant chick flick moment.

"Well Sam, our actions are choices about what is important." Dean said the words suddenly coming to him easily. He could hear a young voice speaking them clearly in his mind as if from a memory. "Us Winchesters, we chose family."

Sam nodded his head, leaning back to enjoy the ride. Something about his brother's words putting him at ease. Whatever the future held for them, they would be able to face it together. Whatever this path led them to as a family, they would take on whatever was thrown at them.

* * *

Castiel moved through the empty hotel room quietly. He cocked his head as if listening to someone speaking near his ear.

"I did as I was promised, Samantha. The past is now as if you never were here, you have left no finger prints." Cas spoke to thin air. He would not mention that the boys would have dreams about a happy life with her for years to come, but he could not wipe away her memory completely. This way they could both know Samantha without remembering what she had done to save them and give them their brother back.

Now certain that all was well in the past, Castiel moved forward stepped into time and returned to a future that he had never seen before. A future that existed thanks to a girl who no one would ever remember was there.

The End.

* * *

**This story is now finished. I hope that everyone enjoyed it and that you liked the way that I ended it. **

**I want to thank everyone for reading this and sticking with me. This was my first fan fiction so it means alot that there was even one person who liked it. **

**Please tell me what you thought in a review or a message. **

**Thanks again!**

**jem. **


	16. For them I would

**Okay, I know that I put this story as completed and truthfully it is. When I planned out the story, I had a detailed back story about what exactly happened in the future to make Samantha act. I felt like that it didn't fit into "I chose family" so I decided to write it as a pre/post story. I posted the first chapter here because I want your feedback on whether or not you guys want to read it. If you want to read it, I will write it and post it as a new story, but I need to hear what you think. **

**So I hope you enjoy the first and perhaps the only chapter of "For them I would". **

Chapter 1- Standford university, May, 2036.

The evening sun light was peering it's way through the half closed curtains, casting a panel of warm light across the old desk. The light caused a glare across the screen of the laptop, but did not pause the fingers from their dance across the keys.

Samantha Winchester paused from typing for a moment to glance at the alarm clock on the other side of the small room. Five to Six, Dad should be here soon, she thought idly returning her attention to the laptop screen.

She had just finished the last paper of the year and was just sending it out to her professor. It was time to finally call this school year to an end. Samantha had always loved school, but she enjoyed summer break much better. Now that she was in university it was the only time of year when she could spend some time with her father.

Running fingers through her hair, Samantha turned her focus to the photograph that sat on her desk. It had been taken on the day that she had left for Stanford; her dad had draped his arm over her shoulder and told her to smile. Both of the Winchesters were grinning at the camera as if the photo had caught them mid laugh.

It was her favourite picture, she didn't know why but she had always felt that you could see how proud her father was of her in that one instant. Truth be told she probably liked it so much because it was the only picture of her family where all the baggage and pain were not glaring out at her.

Tucked in the corner of the frame was a small snap shot of her deceased uncle. Her father had given it to her to remind her where she had come from, but Samantha always saw it as more of a comfort. Whenever something seemed too difficult or she did not think that she would make it, she would look at her uncle's smiling face and he gave her strength. I mean look what he'd had to deal with and he had never given up not even at the end. Samantha just hoped that wherever life took her it wouldn't end with a gaping black hole into a fiery cage.

Samantha turned her attention back to the dim bluish light of her laptop screen. No emails from her friend yet. It was unnerving; he said that he would contact her two days ago, but so far nothing. Usually she wouldn't have been worried about it but this friend was different. If he said he was going to email her then he would have.

Samantha had been talking to Broderick for four years now. He had contacted her about one of her papers a couple months into her first year of university. Being raised by a hunter, she didn't disclose much information about herself for fear of possible attacks, but she still felt a connection to this man.

Over the years Samantha had grown to rely on Broderick's advice, even more so when he had shown that he trusted her by telling her that he was a hunter.

This all lead to the fact that he hadn't emailed her when he said he would. He had been on a hunt for six months now, but had promised that he would try to stay in touch. He said that at the very latest he could get in contact before the end of the term, but that was two days ago.

Samantha sighed in frustration; she just had to remain calm. If Broderick did need help then he would get a message to her. Though they had never met in person, Samantha felt certain that he would not be too proud to ask for help if he was in trouble.

A loud rap on the door pulled Samantha from her thoughts. She closed the lid to her laptop and slide out of the cool plastic of the chair. Stretching her back she moved towards the door, leaning against the wooden frame.

"What's the password?" She said trying to hide the smirk in her voice.

"The password is open the door." Came a male voice familiar even though the wooden barrier muffled it.

"I don't know if I should open it you sound kind of irritated..."

"Samantha Marie Winchester, open the door right now." The voice no longer held any kind of smile in it, but instead sounded like a drill sergeant.

Wincing at the sharp tone, she snapped to attention without any thought, Samantha unlocked the door and peered into the hallway.

Dean Winchester stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his green eyes that had been drilling holes into the wood glared at Samantha. Feeling a little unsure by her father's reaction Samantha took a tentative step backwards.

The cool glare suddenly warmed up and a spark of joy entered the older hunter's eyes. Dean's face transformed as he broke into a wide grin. "I got you that time Sammy girl." He chuckled looking very proud of himself.

Samantha's felt herself relax into the familiar presence of her father. She shot an arm out; given her father a quick punch in the arm. "That's what you think, old man." Samantha said as she returned her father's grin.

Dean wiggled his eyebrows at his daughter. "This old man is still popular with the ladies, so I wouldn't go retirement home shopping yet."

"Ew Dad."

Dean pulled his daughter into a quick hug and Samantha felt as if she was coming home. Her mother had died when she was quite young, she hardly had any memories of her, her father had always been the only family that she'd ever known. With his strong arms around her all doubts and fears went away, it was easy to trust someone who had never failed you before.

Pulling away Dean looked around the room, his eyes landing on the large duffle bag by the door. He bent down and scooped it up. "Is this all that you're taking with you?"

Samantha nodded as she shrugged on her leather jacket and picked up her laptop. They walked out of the small apartment together. As they approached the Impala, Samantha felt warmth fill her heart. Whatever evil sonofabitch they decided to hunt this summer vacation, as long as she had her father and this car Samantha would be okay.

Settling into the passenger seat, she tried to push the worry about Broderick as far away as possible. She would try to contact him later; right now Samantha wanted to focus on the rumble of the engine and her father's voice. This had always been home for Samantha and this was the way she hoped it would always be.

Nothing could possibly happen to change that, right?


End file.
